"Me see a shrink? You must be crazy!" For many people going for counseling or therapy is still taboo. They don't trust it, they feel uneasy about revealing their personal life to a total stranger, or they fear the stigma of being labeled (by others or by the therapist) as "crazy." I'd like to bring to light some of these cultural biases against psychotherapy and respond to them.

1. "I'm not crazy." This is the old stereotype that seeking this kind of help is an admission that one is mentally/emotionally unstable or out of touch with reality. The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of people in therapy are not psychotic or schizophrenic. They are people who are experiencing emotional pain, stress or interpersonal problems, but who are still able to cope and function adequately and responsibly overall. So the answer to this one is "I'm not crazy; I just have difficulty in this one area of my life."

2. "My personal life is nobody else's business." Here we are up against a deeply ingrained cultural norm of "the privacy of the individual and the family." But the same person who wouldn't think of revealing the inner workings of his mind to a mental health professional thinks nothing of opening up his body to examination and testing by a physician. What's the difference? I think it has to do with our perception of personal freedom and control. We still view our body's malfunctioning as out of our control and thus subject to intervention by an external agent/expert, i.e., a physician. On the other hand, we view our emotional, mental and inter-personal functioning as totally under our control and we want to preserve this last bastion of freedom and privacy, and keep outsiders out. A further expression of this view is found in the next two statements.

3. "I'm not going to have anyone messing with my mind." Some people have the image of the therapist as kind of a "sorcerer"-- one who has magical powers of perception and is bent on mind control. In actuality therapy is a relationship of mutual trust in which the client maintains much more freedom than the therapist. For example, the therapist is bound by ethical and legal restrictions of confidentiality whereas the client is not. The client has many rights which protect him/her from therapist abuse such as the right to participate in the development and review of his/her treatment plan, the right to discontinue treatment at any time and the right to review his/her records with the therapist. In short, the therapist's goal is to empower not overpower the client and the final decision about how or what to change is up to the client.

4. "Nobody else can do it for me; I've got to do it myself." This reflects the rugged individualism that is deeply ingrained in the American psyche. Having problems is bad enough; not being able to solve them on our own feels like the final blow. We see ourselves as emotional weaklings, mental cripples or moral failures. However, we quite willingly admit our need for help in other areas of our lives without viewing this as an admission of defeat and failure. We need money and get a loan; we feel a spiritual need and seek out a community of believers; we feel the need for love, security and belonging and get married; we admit a knowledge gap and take courses; and so on. The fact is we live in a society which is interdependent and this applies to the psychological as well as the physical, economic, social and spiritual dimensions of our lives.

5. "Psychiatrists are a bunch of ***!" Here I am including all mental health professionals (e.g., psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, social workers) who conduct psychotherapy. One predominant impression is that therapists are nothing more than glorified listeners who murmur "umhm" every three minutes and who never give you any practical help. This view of an aloof, distant figure is largely out of date. Most therapists today are more verbally active, approachable and have a repertoire of specialized skills and techniques which are effective in treating various individual, couple and family problems. As in other professions, there is a wide range of competence, personal style and special areas of expertise. You need to shop around for a therapist who is right for you.

All of these objections may be a smoke screen for an underlying resistance to change-the reluctance to give up old patterns of thinking and acting which feel comfortable and familiar, but which just aren't working anymore. This awareness is the point at which therapy can begin.

If this has stimulated your curiosity or questions, the staff of Samaritan Counseling Center is available to discuss these with you. Finding out what resources are available can thus be the first step in confronting the stigma of mental health issues and psychotherapy.