Before we catch up with Angelica, we want to belatedly thank PsychCentral’s founder, Dr. John Grohol, for choosing Therapy Revolution as PsychCentral’s book of the month for May, National Mental Health Month. We feel honored and grateful. Also, this mention has led to us receiving many e-mails about not only the book but the Therapy Soup blog, too.

Since we’ve been repeatedly getting e-mails asking if the patient and therapist stories in our book were true, we want to come clean: YES! Every single story in the book is true except in the case of the composite patients we use as examples in one section (and they are still based on real-life patient experiences). Over a period of six months we interviewed dozens of patients and many of their families and several therapists.

Recently some of you have asked us what has happened to the patients since then. We are actually in touch with many of them, and even though we didn’t know some of them before we interviewed them we made some great new friendships. Now, some of the interviewees have agreed to share their news. The first update we want to share is from Angelica. Her story was one of several we selected to appear in the chapter about therapy disasters. This chapter contains stories about really negative therapy experiences, but the point of the stories isn’t to shock or horrify or to point fingers, but to expose what can go wrong, no matter how rare these occurences are, so people can learn from others’ experiences. Also, the idea is to offer preventative measures and solutions to existing problems.

Here is some background on Angelica, reprinted from the book (this isn’t the entire text, just a few excerpts—we are leaving out some of the dramatic details).

Angelica had a tough time growing up. Her father walked out when she was eight and then her mother remarried two years later and gave up custody of her to her sister. Angelica was then raised by her aunt, who viewed her as a great burden and said so—constantly. When she turned eighteen, she was told to move out. She left her aunt’s house in the suburbs, rented a room in the city, got a job as a waitress, took some college courses in psychology, and decided she would go to therapy. She had enough insight to know that she hadn’t had the greatest familial role models, and she wanted to sort out her feelings so one day she would be able to marry and raise a family.

Carol, her boss at the restaurant where Angelica worked, recommended that she try Dr. Leslie Ellis … who had helped her son with behavioral issues. [Carol] even gave Angelica a loan to help pay for some sessions. Angelica arrived at her first appointment with high hopes.

…Leslie began by asking Angelica why she came to see her. Angelica began to tell her story.

…During the second session, right before the hour was up, Leslie suggested to Angelica that she was much “sicker” than she had thought originally. She told her that her request for a treatment plan might indicate a perverse need for control. She said that Angelica would have to come to therapy two or three times a week to “get to the bottom of her sickness.”

…Angelica was devastated…Carol told her that at her next session she should ask Leslie exactly how long all this therapy would take. Angelica agreed.

Shortly after the session began, Leslie asked her patient if she had given any more thought to increasing the frequency of her sessions. Angelica said she had, but that she had some questions first…

“How many months of therapy will I need if I come to see you twice a week?”

Leslie thought for a moment. “Well, dear, you see, with your family history, you will most likely be in therapy for the rest of your life.”

Angelica felt as if she had been hit by a hammer. She watched Leslie…as if in slow motion. She repeated the words “the rest of my life” out loud. Then she had a lightning flash of insight: “This woman is just trying to take my money and has no qualms about telling me I am sick in order to do so.” She stood up, looked the very shocked therapist in the eye, and said, “I don’t think so. In fact, I am not coming back to you again…”

Part 2 will be the an update from Angelica in her own words.

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    Last reviewed: 13 May 2010