6 Myths About Mental Health Professionals

Historically, mental health and mental illness has held significant stigma, though we do seem to be moving in the right direction in destigmatizing it. However, there are still many misconceptions about therapy and therapists. Below are 6 myths that frequently come up in my experience as a psychologist.

Myth: Therapists are all healthy and have no problems… They are perfect.

Hard no! Therapists are humans, and just like the rest of the humans, they are absolutely imperfect and have problems. Therapists have their own problems, and they can’t escape the human condition. Also like humans, they span the continuum from unhealthy to healthy. However, when therapists are in their professional setting, they are (supposed to) “container” their own problems, bias, and baggage, leaving it outside the therapy setting where they can pick it back up when done. The therapeutic relationship inherently creates a dynamic where the therapist’s “messy humanness” is hidden while they help a client’s “messy humanness.” The therapy space is for the client, so the therapist may seem “all put together” in the therapy space. But outside of that, therapists are just as messy.

Myth: Therapists cannot help you if they haven’t experienced the same thing.

This is a sad falsity. It’s basically the question: “Can a therapist help you if they’re different from you?” That answer is absolutely. A therapist can’t experience everything that all their clients do - think about how many experiences, disorders, and variables that would be! Also, some experiences would be counterproductive to have, like a really unhealthy narcissistic personality disorder or acute schizophrenia. Then we also have the variables like age, race, parenthood, marital status, socioeconomic status, etc. For example, I’ve been told I’m too young to understand, which assumes my age, my entire life experience, and that my training is not sufficient despite age. Another example I’ve come across is the assumption that childless therapists can’t work with parents/kids. That’s phooey. They have the training. Also, would you assume a teacher, doctor, or caregiver can’t do good work with parents/kids if they were childless? There are some people who work with children because they don’t have their own - and they’re SUPER great at it. So not only is this myth unrealistic, but it undermines the research that states the relationship with the therapist is the most important common factor that positively impacts treatment.

Myth: Therapists are always analyzing everyone.

This one is a bit more complicated, but it is still untrue. A therapist’s job is to analyze their clients, but when they’re outside of the therapy room, do they really have the energy to analyze everyone around them? Absolutely not. Now, let’s consider who is drawn to being a therapist. It’s likely the people who are observant, curious, helpful, and interested in understanding people. So therapists are more likely to be those things, but there’s also others who are not therapists who have those traits. The difference may be that therapists have the training, and thus the words, to express what they see outside the therapy room. But I genuinely believe that therapists don’t have the energy to always analyze. I think this myth stems from the notion that people become uncomfortable and want to hide their (dark?) humanness around three occupations: law enforcement, religious leaders, and therapists.

Myth: Therapists have favorites/least favorites? Or my therapist probably thinks I’m crazy/burdensome.

This one is a no but also needs some explanation. Because both therapists and clients are humans, there is going to be some mismatches of personality or super great fits of personality. Just like your friend group, you are going to be drawn toward different people naturally and have difficulty connecting with other people. So this becomes more about relational factors rather than “favorites.” It’s not about the worth or value of a client; it’s about how you mesh with the client, which inherently means it’s about BOTH parties, not just one. So along those same lines, believing a therapist thinks you’re crazy or burdensome is also really unhelpful. Therapists chose their occupation and willingly signed up to help others, even those who may be complex or challenging. Plus, one therapist might find a client challenging while the next one does not. Again, it’s all about the match of the relationship.

Side note: I can’t help but wonder if this also stems out of transference in the therapeutic relationship. This is where the unconscious projects feelings that originate from primary attachments (i.e. parents) in childhood onto the therapist. So this becomes: “My mother found me burdensome; my therapist must too” or “I was my father’s least favorite of my siblings, so I must be my therapist’s least favorite client.”

Myth: People become therapists because they want to work out their own issues.

This one is complex, and perhaps not a yes or no. No therapist is the same, and there’s so much diversity in the motivations of individuals who are drawn to the field of psychology. A standard response for “Why did you want to be a therapist,” is usually “to help people.” But there’s deeper layers to that, and therapists themselves may not even know the deep, unconscious answer. It may be that the therapist had mental health challenges and therapy, which they found valuable and useful, or maybe they saw someone close to them struggle with mental health and wanted to help. Neither are bad things. The “bad” part of this myth would be if the therapist’s own internal work was impacting a client’s treatment, and that means that boundaries would be crossed - that’s a bad thing. But whatever a therapist’s motivations are to be in the field, they can (and should) work on that outside the therapy space with no negative interference to their clients’ treatments.

Myth: Therapists are all about the money.

This one is a hard no. The educational cost of becoming a therapist, paired with the low pay rate, does not equal a ratio anywhere near other health professionals. Psychologists are actually among the lowest paid of the highest educated professionals. Managed care contributes to this, as it’s quite imperfect. Insurance companies dictate the rates, and they’re not great. Plus, there’s risk and liability, which means paying for malpractice insurance and sometimes for legal assistance. Society is still wondering how much benefit psychology has to offer the medical field, though social media and the general public seems to feel differently. This hasn’t translated over to pay or value in the medical field or insurance companies.

There are many, many more myths regarding therapy and therapists. At the core, I can’t help but wonder if these myths stem from resistance to therapy or perhaps even excuses not to try therapy. It’s okay if you’re not ready to try therapy, but please know that when paired with a good therapist for you, it can be extremely beneficial. Because these are myths and not reality. So when you’re ready, dive into therapy with a therapist you gel with. You’ve got this!