Therapy

Some weeks or maybe even months back, I was watching The Dumping Ground with Johnathan.  A counsellor/therapist had been brought in for the children to see but it was their choice to do so or not  Nobody was forced to.

If you don’t know the series (and you might not), it’s about children in a foster care home.  Quite a number of them live together in this place and there are two half sisters that share a room together.  The older one is a bit “bolshy” and tells the therapist that neither she nor her sister need to see anybody.

Turns out the younger sister DOES want to see the therapist and chooses to go and ask if she can see the woman herself.  It was good to see she made the decision on her own and acted on it.  The older one (I think her name is Phoenix) decides that she HAS to hear the whole session to find out what secrets are being shared.

I am sure you know that therapy is private and the patient/client needs to not only feel comfortable with the other person in the room but also feel safe enough to say anything they need because they are alone together.

After the older sister listens in, she decides that she can solve the problems and come up with solutions herself.  But this is not how therapy works.  Privacy is highly important and everybody should respect that and not get involved.

In the end, although I was surprised by the episode, I was glad that this issue had been tackled on the television and handled sensitively as well. 

TREASURE

Therapy is an individual choice, needs to be with someone you trust and not for other people to either listen into and try to solve what has been said.