“Can going to talk therapy make you worse?”

Hello,

No, talk therapy can’t make you worse, but it is possible that another kind of therapy might make you better - better! Can shoes make your feet hurt? Sure, if they don’t fit you! Seek out a consult who can evaluate what kind of therapy would fit you best.

Peace,

Dr. Marian Shapiro

Interesting question...worse than what? Every health care provider is obligated to practice with the intent to do no harm. With that said, plenty of health care providers have failed in their due diligence to avoid all forms of malfeasance. Clients are expected, whenever possible, to practice communication about what is and is not working in the therapy relationship and with regards to treatments utilized.

Hi,

Thank you for your question. Talk therapy should not worsen symptoms as therapists are ethically bound to do no harm to clients. There are many forms of talk therapy, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), psychodynamic therapy, humanistic therapy, Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing (EMDR), and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).
I hope this has been helpful!

Best,

Jenna Torres, PsyD

Thank you so much for reaching out. Talk therapy is very dependent on what you are trying to work though. Of course it can trigger or make you feel worse if you are trying to talk about trauma or highly sensitive subjects. It it always a lot of work and can take a lot of commitment.

Sara Cole, MS, LPC, CAC III

The idea of course is for talk therapy to help you get better. One thing that is probably most important is for you to have a sense of safety with your therapist. It is important to interview therapists until you find someone that feels right. A great resource is PsychologyToday.com You can search by area code and the site allows you to filter by insurance, male/female, type of therapy, disorder or issues you're coming to treatment for etc. and it has a picture and write up from each therapist. You can request an initial phone call before meeting to ask some questions and get a sense of how the therapist would be working with you. Of course it will take time to build an alliance but typically you will be able to get a feel for someone pretty quickly.

It can certainly be anxiety provoken for some to engage in talk therapy. Discussing triggers and stressors can be bring on overwhelming feelings and emotions and is also a normal process for clients. However, therapists are supportive of clients during the process and journey, to help ease uncomfortable emotions that can surface. It can be natural for steps backwards to also occur, however a supportive network can enable clients to overcome and achieve optimal well being.

See this link for some insight into your question:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/interpersonal-psychotherapy
or
https://www.thezoereport.com/p/can-therapy-make-things-worse-therapists-sound-off-on-how-to-know-youre-being-steered-in-the-wrong-direction-18756526
or
https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-21/edition-1/when-therapy-causes-harm