Therapy Revolution: Find Help, Get Better, and Move on without Wasting Time or Money - Softcover

Richard M. Zwolinski, LMHC, is a nationally and internationally licensed psychotherapist and addiction specialist with more than twenty-five years experience. He serves on the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services Administrative Regulatory Relief Committee and is involved in the creation of important patients' rights regulations. He is also the provider co-chair for the OASAS Smart Records Committee, which creates and implements documents designed to keep patients engaged in treatment as well as promotes therapists' adherence to treatment protocols. He also serves on the Ethics Committee for the New York State Mental Health Counselors Association. Mr. Zwolinski is a consultant to government and non-governmental agencies and industries, and is a regulatory compliance officer and director of an addiction and mental health treatment program.

Introduction

There is an unnamed crisis in America today that is affecting as many as one in four Americans. Psychotherapy as we know it is failing to help many who turn to it for help. At best, many people who have been in therapy say it just isn't worth the money. At worst, they say they are confused and have been hurt by the experience. And make no mistake about it, like physical medical malpractice, botched or incompetent psychotherapy can exacerbate a patient's suffering, causing very real and lasting damage. We call this problem the 'therapy crisis,' and we hope this book will be part of the solution.

A national study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Office of Applied Studies revealed the following: 'In 2006, there were 10.5 million adults aged 18 or older who reported an unmet need for treatment or counseling for mental health problems in the past year. This included 4.8 million adults who did not receive mental health treatment and 5.6 million adults who did receive some type of treatment or counseling for a mental health problem in the past year. Among the 4.8 million adults who reported an unmet need for treatment or counseling for mental health problems and did not receive treatment in the past year, several barriers to treatment were reported. These included an inability to afford treatment (41.5 percent), believing at the time that the problem could be handled without treatment (34.0 percent), not having the time to go for treatment (17.1 percent), and not knowing where to go for services (16.0 percent).' In this book, we hope to address the unmet therapy needs of millions of Americans and help them find competent, caring, and affordable therapists.

If you're reading this book, you are probably looking for (or are already seeing) a psychotherapist. You are also probably fed up with the whole experience―and you have good reason to be. The confusing array of therapist credentials and therapy techniques, as well as conflicting advice from numerous sources, is almost impossible to make sense of, even if you're a professional. It's enough to make you a bit, well, nuts!

It is not an exaggeration to say that today in America we need a therapy revolution. Each year, one in four Americans (that's about 60 million people) ages eighteen and up suffer from minor or major emotional problems, which theoretically should be helped by psychotherapy. But each day, people just like you enter therapy with the belief that they will be helped―and they aren't being helped. In fact, they are being scammed.

When Bad Therapy Happens to Good People
While good therapy can literally be a lifesaver, therapy is not always all it's cracked up to be. In fact, some therapy can actually make people sicker. Most people enter therapy hoping to get relief from emotional distress, but many end up unhappier than when they started. You probably know at least one person who has been in (and out of) therapy for years and seems to be getting nowhere. Several therapists and thousands of dollars later, your friend (or you) may find that life seems more empty and painful than ever before. Sadly, this therapy-go-round is considered to be a 'normal' state of affairs by many therapists themselves. You will read about some of these experiences in this book―and learn how to avoid them.

What if you are a victim of 'hit-and-stay therapy'? That's what we call therapy that just wallops you with an inaccurate or exaggerated diagnosis, and then, session by session, works to reinforce the so-called diagnosis. It keeps you coming back again and again (and opening your wallet, again and again, too). Ineffective therapy methods + uninformed (and vulnerable) patients = therapy dependence, even 'therapy addiction.' This, too, is part of the therapy crisis.
In Therapy Revolution, we will teach you how to prevent―or put a stop to―therapy addiction. You will learn how to spot when a therapist is not giving you your time and money's worth. You will also learn how to recognize and avoid therapists whose therapy practices can actually hook susceptible patients into a never-ending 'therapy trap.'

Empower Yourself and Demand Accountability
After reading this book you will be able to identify and hire the ethical and clinically excellent therapists who deplore these damaging practices. (The word clinically is used here to mean relating to psychotherapy) We assure you that good therapists are out there and doing the kind of compassionate and inspirational therapy you may have come to believe doesn't exist. Some therapists, most insurance companies, and many state governments are waking up to the fact that something must be done to ensure that things get better. Serious discussions about setting standards for good therapy are now on the table, and in some states new regulations have even been written.

Unless major mental illness (any of the various conditions characterized by impairment of an individual's normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functions that can be caused by social, psychological, biochemical, genetic, or other factors such as infection or head trauma), personality disorders, or developmental disorders are the diagnosis, patients like you shouldn't spend too much time or money on therapy, and every good (that is, competent and ethical) therapist knows this. In this book you will learn what questions to ask to ensure that you don't waste years in therapy. You will learn about what to expect during the therapy experience and how to recognize who is and who is not a competent and ethical therapist. You will learn about the centrality of your treatment plan, which is an essential therapy tool. You will learn how to ask your therapist to use a treatment plan if he isn't already doing so.

You will begin to understand your diagnosis and set goals. You will learn about the things you (and your therapist) should do in order to help you reach your goals in a reasonable amount of time. You will also learn how to advocate for yourself during therapy and what to do if you encounter resistance from a therapist. You will learn to insist that your therapist use treatment methods that have been proven to work. You will learn how to recognize when therapy is going nowhere, and when it is time to change therapists or when to seek answers from other disciplines, such as medical or spiritual guidance. You will learn how and why you should demand accountability from your therapist. You will even learn how to tell when therapy has been successful and when it is time for you to move on.
There are many good therapists out there, but there are some who through incompetence or worse are prepared to take your money without getting results, week after week, for years on end. Therapy Revolution will help you avoid the bad therapy trap, will help you save money and time, and will give you concrete guidelines you can follow to help make therapy work for you. You will learn how to find real help, get better, and move on, so that your life won't be about therapy but about living.

Note to the reader: Throughout this book we use the pronoun 'he' for the sake of simplicity, clarity, and consistency. We use it in the spirit of inclusiveness. Similarly, though many choose to use the term 'client' or 'consumer' to describe those who seek help from psychotherapists, we prefer the term 'patient.' It seems to us to better describe the more personal relationship a responsible therapist has with those he helps. When the terms 'therapy' or 'therapist' are used in this book, we are referring to psychotherapy or psychotherapist unless otherwise noted.

Names of patients and therapists, as well as identifying personal and situational details, have been changed to protect the identity of those who have so graciously given us permission to tell their stories.

©2009. Richard M. Zwolinski, LMHC, CR Zwolinski. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Therapy Revolution. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442