Long time lurker, indeed, one time member, checking back into the Dope.
This could be long, so I’ll keep it as short as possible. If enough interest develops in this thread, I’ll get into more detail. First some background and then the questions…
My wife and I are fostering/adopting 3 girls, all sisters; 15, 10 and 9 years of age. Of course, they are seeing a therapist whom we see as well in our role as their parents. Until recently, everything has proceeded remarkably well considering their situation. BTW, my wife and I have no knowledge or experience in the field of mental health except what she was exposed to in nursing school. The 2 younger ones are still progressing nicely; happy as clams. There was recently a situation last Sunday night that resulted in the 15 year old throwing the telephone at my wife/onto the bed. I got involved and said some not so nice things (some very mean things) that I must apologize for and then make right.
Here are the questions…
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Are/is there a standard source for terms used in counseling? I would like to find out if there is a recognized therapeutic definition for the term “power struggle”. I know the definition as used out in the world but is there a different one for this environment?
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Is there a recognized treatment or method that allows or even encourages the therapist to verbally attack a client or the client’s guardian/parent? I had always assumed that a professional (for pay) therapist would necessarily be required to listen attentively to all parties, remain detached, aloof and calm no matter what is said during a session but, I’ve been wrong before… many times!
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Is it appropriate at any time for the therapist to tell anyone in the session “f… you” and order them out of the session? (no, the whole word wasn’t used just the “f”) This so shocked me so much that I hardly reacted at all; and I have my own problems with profanity. Is this some kind of “new wave” therapy?
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Is there any type of professional regulating body in this field? How would one go about getting in touch with them? I know about the AMA for doctors.
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Do I seem really calm here? I’m not, but upon rereading what I’ve posted above I think I sound a little like I’m on ‘ludes or something!
Also, we had our little talk with DSS (about the Sunday night incident itself) and they are eager and willing to help us resolve any issues and help all of us move forward. They do not, as yet, know of our drama with the therapist which really sucks because we transferred services from the DSS provider to this one, the one we picked.
Any input is welcome as we are pretty much at a loss at what to do here.