Therapists Can Be Dogmatic Too
Avoidance of dogma is one of my personal tenants. I continually have to double check myself. Am I falling into rigid thought patterns and belief systems?
So many times when we as a collective hear the word ‘dogma’, we tend to think of religion. The reality is, any system is subject to becoming dogmatic. And yes, this includes therapeutic practices.
I’m going to share a recent, personal experience. My old therapeutic methods not only stopped working, they were causing me harm. As a result my therapist changed course quickly. Sadly, this is not always how the story goes, I’ve seen cases where rigid practices overrode patient care and well being.
When I first began trauma therapy, my therapist and I used a technique called EMDR. EMDR stands for ‘Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing’. If you are curious about what this practice looks like in depth, please see the link at the bottom of this article.
I really loved EMDR. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it alleviated a great deal of my trauma symptoms. The experiences I had in EMDR therapy officially broke me out of atheism. As I studied occult literature in my later years, I noticed many parallels between crossing the abyss and my EMDR journey.
Because of a move I had a ‘break’ in my therapy. But after 2 years I was able to resume again with my same therapist.
We commenced into EMDR therapy again. I was not having the same experience I was before. This was because the type of trauma we were working with and my life circumstances were different. I had someone in my life at the time who was making me feel as though I was reliving my trauma. Going from an EMDR session, to dealing with this person… was a disaster. Even with resilience building exercises, I was starting to experience constant flashbacks.
I spoke with my therapist and we made an immediate switch to cognitive behavioural therapy mixed with Jungian Depth Psychology. My flashbacks stopped. I was able to identify the patterns which were letting harmful people in, my trauma symptoms have improved greatly since.
At this same time, I remember being online and seeing another therapist’s tiktok. She was promoting EMDR and belittling cognitive behavioural therapy. There was this attitude that EMDR works better than anything and patients need to ‘power through’ their trauma.
And I remember thinking… her poor patients.
I already knew this, but the situation really got me thinking. All therapeutic modules, even well established ones, have the potential to harm. And… a dogmatic therapist can do a lot of damage to not only a person’s psyche, but also to their faith in the healing process.
My personal advice. As someone who has devoted so much of my life to understanding trauma and alleviating my own. Healing is never linear. There is no ‘one way’ to do it best. Some methods will work wonderfully in some arenas and terribly in others. If any kind of healer says their way is the ‘only way’… run…
Something I suggest when finding a therapist which really helped me. I know I always say journal… but keep a journal about what you are feeling and experiencing. Learn the names of very basic therapeutic practices. Start looking for therapists who align with your needs.
And most importantly… if something stops working. You aren’t broken. You aren’t failing. It’s not your fault. You’ll find something else that ‘works’.
Here is the previously mentioned link about EMDR:
https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/eye-movement-reprocessing
