Talking to your best friend, significant other or family member is not the same as talking to a credentialed clinical counselor/therapist.
Professional clinical counselors/therapists are trained and experienced in what they are providing you. Friends and family can be supportive and have a natural one-sided innate lens with a mission to support you because they love you. This is great help when you need to feel loved and supported.
It can be harmful when it comes to clinical and professional advice in working through serious life problems and situations. Mental health professionals know how to help you deal with your situation in a new way. They teach you effective skills, help you gain appropriate perspectives, and listen to you without the bias, expectations or judgements that friends and family naturally do.
They also do not have dual relationships with you, it is forbidden and for good reasons. They should never be a friend outside of session or someone who maintains a personal relationship with you of any kind. Especially personal contact outside of sessions. That is a big no-no!
Most importantly, clinical professionals help you really hear yourself, good, bad and indifferent. They do not enable maladaptive coping skills, self-destructiveness or encourage and support unhealthy behaviors. In fact, they are knowledgeable and trained and bound to their ethics to do the exact opposite. In your best interest.
Clinical counseling and therapy is 100% confidential. No one else is entitled to know your business. It important to understand that if your situation provokes a lot of negative feelings, and you've been confiding in a family member, significant other or friend, there is always the risk that once you are feeling better and in a better place about it all, you might feel uncomfortable with that individual because you don’t want to be reminded of the hurtful experience. The change in dynamics might be challenging to manage.
And often they inadvertently encourage you to stay in the same negativer space with your issues because that is a comfort zone for them with you. They might not mean any harm, or even recognize that it is harmful to you. However we are human beings and our personal feelings can naturally influence these dynamics.
Friends, family and significant others mostly have our best interest in mind. Most times they believe they are actually helping. Maybe they are, sometimes. However, just like investing in yourself enough to have a professional licensed attorney, medical clinician, or other professional help you make accurate decisions about your situation, your mental health professional should be exactly that, a mental health professional, licensed, ensured, credentialed and not someone with basic training who hangs up a shingle calling themselves a counselor or coach choosing to “practice” outside of their area of expertise or even ability. Fraud is fraud. Harmful to everyone.
Remember that only licensed, insured and properly credentialed mental health professionals can diagnose, treat and/or heal mental health conditions. Not coaches or “counselors” without these credentials. Be very careful who you take your mental health issues or important life issues to and always be sure that they are fully credentialed in the field.
This is your life and the life of your loved ones that matters most.
Stay safe!
