Chapter 16 is mostly about different psychological and biological treatments that are used in psychology, but there was one factor that struck me the most. It's becoming more common in our society to seek professional help when facing recurring problems. We're expected to sit in on a few sessions, get diagnosed and then properly treated. However, it was found that in some cases, psychotherapies can make people worse off (Barlow, 2010; Dimidjian & Hollon, 2010; Lilienfeld, 2007). One example are coercive restraint therapies which are targeted towards children, usually fostered or adopted children, who have attachment issues. The extent of the therapy consists of the child being physically held down until they stop resisting and they begin to show eye contact and are open to reason. Such a treatment questions ethics and can even be seen as barbaric, as there's a possibility of physical injuries, or in extreme measures, even death. Another more commonly known "therapy" is the national D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse and Resistance Education) program where police officers inform students about the risks of drug use and skills to resist peer pressure. Although with good intentions, there has been noticeable increased intake of alcohol and other substances following the execution of this program. I'm not saying that all therapies are detrimental, because the majority of them are, in fact, extremely beneficial, but just to think twice before blinding committing yourself to any type of therapy. It's not in the therapist's intention to cause any harm to their patients, it's only the unpredictable side effects of what they were taught. But we all know the saying; the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
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Indeed! It's a crazy thing to start thinking about especially when you start thinking about different kinds of body therapies as well. The role of a therapist is often much larger and can be either more helpful or harmful than even that of a doctor. It's sad to think that some really great therapy practices have been harmed by the people who abused their roles as helpers and ended up doing more harm, not just to the individual but to the system and even world as a whole.