Curt and Katie talk about how niche, safety considerations, or competence can be used by therapists to discriminate against specific classes of people. Specifically looking at therapists who decide to no longer work with men.
It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.
In this episode we talk about:
How therapists might be discriminating when they refuse to work with a specific gender
Niche, specialization, scope of competence (or scope of excellence)
How to assess whether you are discriminating or providing the highest level of care (i.e., referral)
Having a thoughtful process and clear conversation to help clients find the best match
Assessing safety in deciding who to take into your practice
The importance of good screening tools
The problem of refusing to see clients when you are fearful of a whole protected class of individuals
Marketing to your ideal client to help the clients you’re best suited to help call you
When there is a competence issue to be a therapist when you are not able to work professionally with specific protected classes
The role that past traumas and wounding experiences have on our ability to be effective therapists
Self-awareness versus discrimination
The argument about whether we “have to” serve everyone who reaches out to us for help
Options when you don’t feel capable of serving specific issues or specific classes of people
Referring out, learning more, working on your own triggers
The standard that therapists are held to
How not to discriminate – helping clients to make an informed choice, providing professional assistance (referring out)
When you must see clients according to the ethics codes
How to take care of yourself as a therapist
Respecting that we are human beings with limits, while still understanding the higher standard that we are held to
