Don't be Deceived by What You Hear in Advertising & On the News
Today, it's becoming more and more apparent that you can't always trust what you hear on television and radio or see in newspapers and magazines. Everyone has an agenda. But then again, even this web site has an agenda! Hopefully, the contributors to this site and this site in general is a little more straightforward and honest about our agenda (see below). The problem with so much of what you hear and see in the media is that the people promoting the information are not aware or not up front about their agenda. In fact, they often go as far as to present their opinions as facts.
This page will provide you, the consumer, with some general information about how to interpret what you hear and read. Additionally, each of the section articles to the left will provide you with additional information about more specific issues consumers commonly run into.
Mental Health and the Facts
One of my biggest pet peeves is mental health professionals that present their informed position as fact. Early on in their training, nearly every student who is studying to become a mental health professional is told that psychological research doesn't prove anything, it just supports hypotheses. Those who don't hear this, should. However, it seems this part of their training is frequently forgotten when talking to consumers or being interviewed. However, when talking to other professionals, they often, though not always, miraculously remember this part of their training.
Why does this occur? Well, I could give many answers to this all of which are probably partially true. Psychology and the other social sciences have often been called a "soft science" or a "second rate sciences." This is partially because their research is not quite as precise as watching what occurs when you combine two chemicals. This is partially because humans are much more complex than chemicals! So, in psychology, we are not dealing with such an exact science. Many mental health professionals would like to see psychology on the same level as the other sciences and so they use the same language of the "hard sciences." This, however, is misleading.
It is often more convincing to say, "research has proven" instead of "research suggests one possible explanation..." It also makes the speaker look much more important. This, for many professionals, is the draw to speaking in a manner that is not appropriate for psychology.
Let me give you one common example to illustrate this. I've often observed at presentations that a mental health professional may begin by stating "research suggests..." Then, at some point during the presentation someone challenges what they are saying. All of a sudden they stop saying "research suggests..." and start saying "Well, research has proven..." Frequently, what is really happening here is the professional is responding to the challenge by protecting their ego and overstating their opinion as fact.
All mental health professionals make these slip ups from time to time. However, what concerns me is that many professionals make these inaccurate presentations a part of their standard lines. Personally, I make it my strong practice to not refer to mental health professionals who make this their standard practice.
What Do Mental Health Professionals Say...
You probably can remember many times here the phrase, "Psychologists tell us..." or "Psychologists believe..." or even worse "Psychologists know..." Whenever I hear these phrases I just shake my head. I've been involved in psychology for over 10-years now. I've attended numerous professional conference and taught in four different psychology graduate programs. One thing that is very consistent is that psychologists don't agree on much!
As in nearly every field, professionals disagree. This is largely due to different beliefs and values, not differences in levels of competency. When you hear the phrase, "psychologists say..." or "mental health professionals agree..." listen with caution. If its a news reporter, it could easily be because they don't have a good understanding of the mental health field. However, it could also be that they are trying to sell you something.
The Agenda at www.therapyinfo.net
Okay, so I've claimed that mental health professionals generally have an agenda, so let me be clear about my agenda and the agenda at www.therapyinfo.net. I am a clinical psychologist in private practice and also involved in academia training future psychologists. In general, I believe that therapist is a better option than medications. I strongly believe that the type of therapy which is the best fit for a consumer is largely dependent upon the consumer's values and desired outcome. However, I also believe that consumers are often not given adequate information about treatment options and pushed into making decisions that may be more beneficial to the provider (i.e., financial gains) than the consumer. So I've committed to providing free, quality information to consumers to assist them in making informed decisions about mental health issues.
Am I without selfish motives? I wouldn't be so bold as to make that claim. In general, I believe many decisions people make have a mixture of selfish and altruistic motives. I do receive some benefits from creating this web site. The most obvious is that it is supporting the field of psychotherapy which provides some of my personal financial security. Additionally, I've created links to my web site in hopes that it may help support my private practice. So I wouldn't deny that there are some selfish reasons for creating this web site. However, I hope that it is evident that information on this web site demonstrates that my primary commitment is to the consumer.