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gail's avatar

You sound irritated. I've always had a lot of respect for those with a calling, mostly health care professionals. My brother is a retired doc, and I can't even state without blubbering what a great doc he was for so many reasons. I believe in education. The more you can learn, the better. Some people are born therapists, they *get* people and how their minds work. I can tell you fill that bill, Drew.

So now for my real reason for commenting. I got your book today and was disappointed that it was not signed!!!!!!!!!!! Must I be a greater pain in the butt to get some attention from you? Looking forward to cracking the book! I know all the magic is in there along with all the goodies I've been trying to stuff in my head from FB site, podcasts, etc.

Have a great weekend!

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Simon Collin's avatar

Thanks Drew. I wasn’t meaning anything against what you said and do agree, just wanted to highlight that sometimes even with the education , therapy can be very hit and miss . I myself am considering a total career change and re skulking and studying in counselling , as I feel , well, in the area I am , the service is so poor and un provided for . Suicides , especially in males are increasing at the hands of a service that just cannot cope . My only fear is that I would study and then not be allowed to do the job I want to do for people .

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Carol Dale's avatar

Thanks again Drew. I know it is so important to find the right person to help and I am sure you will talk about that soon. It's a very difficult area.We need help with this.

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Vicki Darmanin's avatar

And that’s not to mention registration with industry organisations which (in Australia) means that there is monitoring of the industry (safe guarding the community). Access to health insurance and Medicare is another reason that qualifications are important.

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Heather's avatar

Yes I was going to say that too! If you’re seeing a licensed therapist or a doctor, and they do something unethical, there’s a governing body that you can report them to. If they’re a coach, you’re totally on your own if there’s a problem.

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Ryan's avatar

Hi Drew helpful article and good luck with your studies. In my personal experience, I found the therapists I worked with had less education on agoraphobia and panic disorder than the Coach in California that I worked with. It was the coach that helped me make the behavioural changes I needed to make significant progress. In my case I didn’t need to go in the past to figure anything out, I just need the tools to move forward and make positive behavioural changes. I therefore do feel coaching can be a viable option for some clients but I do agree the coach should have certain standards, e.g ICF credentialing and clinical supervision as equally I would not want to work with a coach that had little knowledge or experience on the subject.

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Drew Linsalata's avatar

Oh and I have to point out that ICF credentialing is kinda worthless within the context of clinical mental health practice. I’m all for what the ICF stands for and I support their efforts to legitimize and standardize coach training. But waving an ICF certification as qualification to treat anxiety disorders like OCD is like completing EMT training and deciding you are a neurosurgeon. We have to be careful about that word - certification. Certification and credentialing are not the same thing.

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Ryan's avatar

Thanks Drew, In my case I worked with a coach that had an extensive knowledge of panic disorder and agoraphobia, and Knowledge of tools like graduated exposure, but more importantly they themselves had experienced panic disorder and overcome it, therefore they provided more value than the therapists who were generalists. The therapists in my case could have done more harm than good. But as commented on another post there are good therapists and bad. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a fan of a coach who has no knowledge on the subject of anxiety disorder or experience and use an ICF credentialing qualification as a means to decide they are qualified to speak about the subject. A reminder that one of the benefits of the ICF code of ethics is to ensure coaches operate in the remit of coaching to to not represent themselves as a mental health expert who can give advice.

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Drew Linsalata's avatar

Hi Ryan. I love that it worked out for you the way it did. Thats awesome. For some folks I agree this can be a pretty straightforward process and there can be positive outcomes like that. No doubt! Unfortunately not everyone has this experience. Lack of education and required experience prior to practice often leads to “round peg/square hole” scenarios that can be less than helpful or even harmful. Everyone gets to choose their own helpers. I’m just advocating for informed choices.

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Ryan's avatar

Thank you for your kind words. I’ve made huge progress also thanks to your books and blog also and completely empathise and understand where you are coming from.

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Simon Collin's avatar

But saying this , I have also had two therapists recently , that may as well of had zero education , or at least any they remembered or could be bothered to use . One told me how bad things have been for me and that my ASD made it hard for them to talk with me , and the other , had four sessions and said I should go join the budist centre and just go out and do things …….

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Drew Linsalata's avatar

Sadly, there are bad therapists like there are bad members of every profession. This is true. But that does not provide us with proof that skipping the education and qualification part is justified. My goal here was simply to shine a light on an important difference between a coach and a therapist. Informed choices are the best choices.

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Heather's avatar

People can definitely have bad experiences with therapists, which sounds like what happened to you. Just like there are some god-awful MDs out there. But just like with doctors: If you visit an MD and they turn out to be terrible, you should find a different MD. You shouldn’t decide to go buy herbs on the internet to treat your appendicitis!

(And also I don’t know exactly what the second therapist said, but joining a spiritual community is often a solid suggestion. It gives some people a routine; social interaction; and ongoing emotional support.)

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