Tips To Avoid A Bad Licensed Marriage And Family Therapist

By Harriett Crosby


To determine whether a licensed marriage and family therapist is a bad one or not, people will have to remember some red flags. One of the flags that should alert people is when the said counselor actually acts unethically. This refers to when they harbor romantic feelings toward their client or when they break the confidentiality or emergency protocols.

It is also a red flag if the person finds the recommendations of the said professional to be against one's beliefs. Do not force one's self to follow the recommendations given by the said professional that comes in conflict with one's beliefs and values. The person's chosen professional should be capable of working within one's own value system.

It is only normal for a client to have numerous questions they want to ask to the said counselor. The red flag at this point is when the counselor actually dodges questions that should have been easily answered. One should also see to it that the questions are not unreasonable too. If one asks a reasonable question, they can get satisfactory answers too.

One should consider whether this professional over-share or not. There are therapists who share too much of their own life. They draw attention to themselves. This might potentially pull the couple into taking care of the professional instead. If the professional discloses something, it should be helpful to the couples.

Of course, it is obviously a red flag for people if they feel worse after every meeting they go through with the said professional. There are times when this happens occasionally but that should still be fine. It will be a different matter if the said situation happens over and over again. Something is just not right with this.

The person might end up feeling judged, shamed, and emotionally unsafe when they are going through the said session. It will feel really bad if the said professional seems like to be holding a magnifying glass over the couple's issues all the time. Look for another professional since this is not healthy at all. They should set up healthy boundaries for themselves.

Relying on counselors should be a good thing if the latter is someone who hears the client's issues well. It is definitely a red flag for people when their counselor actually asks them to repeat information every other session. Even if the details are not verbatim, at least having them remember the key details is a must.

For those professionals who actually disrupt the sessions, that is basically a red flag. For the sessions, there should be no phone ringing. This means that the professional should not hold a phone unless It is really an emergency. They should not fall asleep too. In fact, the said professional should make the couple the focus of this session.

A professional's instinct is very sharp. No matter who it is, they should learn how to trust in their own instincts. If the person wants to look for a good licensed marriage and family therapist, they should make sure to listen to what their guts tell them.




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