Within the four walls of a psychologist or psychiatrist’s office is a safe space for people to come and empty their sorrows, pain and daily burdens. It is supposed to be the one place where you can be yourself and experience a semblance of reassurance and stability. The issue is that for a lot of people, it can have the complete opposite effect because of unprofessional practitioners. Of course, it’s not only vital to find the right person for you but to also distinguish between unprofessional and incorrect behavior. That’s why it’s truly important to educate yourself as a patient on what is unprofessional behavior. But until you do, we’ve gathered some horrible and shocking moments that have happened between these doctors and their patients proving more than ever how important it is to choose the person right for you.
A Bout Of Unnecessary Hostility
I was trying to take fewer therapy sessions one time I tried to cancel my session my psychologist called me on the phone to tell me off, yelling, “you need to come to the office now! You need therapy.” The whole experience was completely unprofessional and quite unexpected.
– Ahmed
A Potential Homewrecker
My psychologist got super involved in my life, it was crazy. She would give me orders and tell me how I should live my life. When I was in a dark place, she told me that I need to be alone and that I should break up with my girlfriend, who I loved and leave my job, which I did. So here I was, single and without a job because my psychologist told me to do so. To make matters worse, when I was on my way to my session her secretary told me that she traveled overseas.
– Youssef
The Medical Issue
From the very first session, my psychiatrist prescribed me medication which I immediately got addicted to. It also made me sleepy but when I told my psychiatrist, he insisted I should keep taking the medication and even increased the dose. This whole time I thought that he did this for my own well-being but it turned out that he was working for the pharmaceutical brand that was behind the medication that I was taking.
– Hana
The Unexpected Love Affair
I used to go see a psychologist twice a week and I was pretty lonely then and just got out of a major breakup. There was something about opening up to him and the way he would listen to me and always know what to say. Well, with all that being said, I ended up falling for him and even confessed my feelings. Instead of ending our sessions like a professional, he booked us even more sessions for the foreseeable future.
– Yasmine
The One Too Busy For Their Client
It was my first time seeing a psychologist so I was feeling pretty hesitant but eventually, I ended up going. I should have stuck with my gut because not only was my psychologist super late to our first appointment, when I finally started opening up in the session, his mobile rang, he asked if he could pick up and I gave him an OK…funnily enough I went to see him because of my inability to say no when I want to. I started to open up again and that’s when his office phone rang and he picked up and whispered, “10 minutes.” Overall the session took an awkward half hour.
– Ali
The Time Management Issue
My psychologist was always fifteen minutes late, which really messed up my busy schedule. One time before we started our session I told her that I could simply come fifteen minutes later because it was uncomfortable for me to sit in the waiting room for fifteen minutes to which she replied, “I’m in the office, it’s just I’m bad with time management.”
– Soha
It’s incredible how these kinds of scenarios are actually possible knowing that the psychologist or psychiatrist’s office is the one place where we should be able to feel safe and understood.
