The two trained psychologists/therapists I saw pushed the “If you want to be a good person…” line as though I was a moral degenerate rather than someone who needed help to cope better. I stopped seeing them rather quickly.
Finally I had ‘therapy’ from an untrained member of staff at the day centre I was attending. She didn’t push the “If you want to be a good person…” line but was hypercritical of me and didn’t give much encouragement.
Eventually she revealed she was part of a small religious sect and dumped me soon after for inadvertently upsetting her religious sensibilities.
After that trio of fiascos I was soon told I was unsuitable for therapy.
They sound awful and unprofessional, there are brilliant therapists out there that are better than that and treat you humanely and don’t impose their beliefs on you they’re not meant to be like that anyway. Consider searching elsewhere if it is something you feel you want to give another chance
Unless I go private, which I can’t afford, chances of getting therapy are very slim. As it is most therapy is CBT based(not a great fan of it). Also I have definite autistic traits and I’ve heard traditional CBT is contraindicated/not suitable for people on the spectrum.
My therapist is well meaning but rather negative. She thinks I cannot work. Then I go to day treatment and they set up a goal for me to try to look into working and worked on my anxiety. Tomorrow I start work and I am relatively well adjusted and not freaking out. Good therapy is just better.
Just want to add that some people don’t believe people with mental illness can grow without meds. But therapy and supportive circle and work can all be important to that growth process.