As a prospective therapy client, I have a guess as to what you would like the answer to be. The opinion I have probably isn’t a popular one. But please, take the time to read the entire post even if it’s not the answer you want. I hope that you will understand why.
Do therapists know everything about mental health? Therapists have a lot of training, but they do not know everything about mental health. They probably have a specialty that they know a lot about. We can’t know everything about mental health, but their training allows them to competently work with all kinds of client issues. If your therapist is telling you they know everything about what you are experiencing, you may want to run. You are the only expert on your own life.
Yes, I do have a lot of training in mental health. Yes, I probably could present myself as an expert if I needed to. My job as a therapist is not to present myself as an expert, it’s to present myself as an ally and advocate you. This article will explain why therapists don’t know everything about mental health, the mindset I feel that is most helpful for clients, and what a “specialization” is.
Is A Therapist “Knowing Everything” A Good Thing?
I have not lived your life. If I think that I know and understand everything you have done, I am wrong. Someone could know absolutely EVERYTHING about mental health or a certain topic. All that knowledge is only a fraction of what leads to therapeutic benefit for you as the client.
The “therapeutic relationship” is a collaborative partnership and journey that leads you towards the path leading to change. In that, you have two people … 😊 For your part in the relationship, there is the stuff you have been through, your willingness to change, and your engagement in therapy.
For your therapist, there are a few things they bring to the relationship as well. They bring their knowledge of the topic, their theoretical beliefs on how to achieve growth and change, and themselves (their personality).
As you are probably starting to notice, there are a bunch of things that play into you, achieving personal growth and progress. So yes, a therapist knowing a lot about a subject is a great thing. But it is not EVERYTHING. Your new therapist could know absolutely everything there is to know on… let’s say, post-partum depression. But if your therapist is a jerk or you don’t jive with their therapeutic style, progress will be much harder to come by.
By the way, if you do not feel like your current therapist is a good fit for you, check out this article where I talk bout how to handle that.
Why Are Therapists Allies, Not Experts?
This is where you will hear different therapists say different things. I view my role in therapy as an ally/collaborator. Some therapists may say they position themselves as experts. Either way works, and there are therapists out there for everyone. I truly believe that.
A major part of what I do as a therapist is to help people realize and understand that they have the power to begin the change in their own lives. It goes back to that old cliché say of “if you think you can, or you can’t, you are right”. It helps to have someone work with you and hold you accountable. This can help personal growth and change happen sooner. At least I hope that’s true, or else I will be out of a job soon.
When I hear someone claiming they are an expert, a few things automatically come into my head. The first being, I need them if I have any hope of making progress on this thing. They have this impressive knowledge, and I need to teach me what they know.
Any therapist is going to take the role of expert and teacher at some points. The thing I want you, the prospective client, to remember is that you are the expert on your own life. No therapist can ever know exactly what you have been through and how it has impacted you. Because of this knowledge and your expertness, it is so important that you play an active role in your therapy.
I have come to believe that the most growth comes when the person I am working with is embracing their expertness (I think that’s a word!) on their lives. I feel that when I have positioned myself as an expert, I am pulling people along with me, and that’s not a great way to do therapy.
I would much rather empower you to do your work than make myself feel good by proving how smart I am. All of this is to say that anyone I work with will feel they are an empowered ally in the therapeutic relationship. If change is to happen, it’s because they wanted it to.
You Wouldn’t Go To A Primary Care Physician For Brain Surgery, Would You?
The last point I want to make is something I don’t see many people talking about. To become a therapist, I have learned about all kinds of things. There are plenty of areas I am competent enough to work in. There are certain niches I enjoy working with most. I have a passion for helping people work through profound trauma and helping people express and be their authentic selves.
I am still MORE than capable of working with clients who are working through other things. Each therapist has a list of things that they focus more on because they enjoy working with clients working through those issues. As a therapist, I use the word “specialty”.
Drawing from an example I used earlier, if you come to me with post-partum depression, my schooling and other trainings have taught me enough to be able to work with you and help achieve your goals. However, My knowledge and experience with post-partum depression may not be as extensive as a therapist who “specializes” in working with women experiencing post-partum depression.
How About A Metaphor?
I am a metaphor person. One I like to use for this example is: you need brain surgery, you wouldn’t be going to a Primary Care Physician for the surgery, you would start by looking for a brain surgeon. That PCP has likely had some training on human anatomy, they probably know enough to be dangerous, but they probably aren’t your first choice. They may even be a good place to start, and they can make referrals to people they trust.
Now, this metaphor is a little extreme, I’ll give you that. But therapists have been trained in all kinds of things. Of all those things, we tend to gravitate towards one or two issues that we enjoy helping clients work through. If you start working with a therapist and you realize they may not be for you, or they know someone else who can better help you, they will be able to make the referral for you.
When beginning to search for a therapist, don’t be afraid to look for a “specialist” for what you want to work on. If there isn’t one, no worries at all! Look for a therapist who sounds like a person you would like to work with. The most important thing is for you to find a person you work well with. That is where the potential for the most growth is.
Final Thoughts:
Therapists don’t know everything. They probably know a lot about different things in their specialty, but never everything. The therapists are also only half of what is going on in therapy!
You and who you are in the other half of therapy! It is less important that a therapist knows “everything” and more important that you get along with them.
Until next time,
