To think a therapist with a personality disorder is concerning?

The therapist themself might have told people

I agree that all counsellors/therapists should have to register to use the title and follow the kind of professional practices you describe.

An entire industry has grown up around therapy, counselling and related areas (“life coaching”) - you can’t turnaround these days without seeing adverts for therapists. As with the diet industry - where there is money in the game, there will be cons and abuse.

We see a similar problem with “nutritionists” in food and diet - another unregulated title requiring no qualifications or experience despite offering people expensive and sometimes dangerous solutions to their concerns.

As an adoptive parent of two highly complex children who are among society’s most vulnerable, I would rather a therapist who was ‘flawed’ or rather human and who had lived experience and greater insight into the types of issues faced by my family. Better that than the ‘therapist’ who lived an apparently idyllic life and who articulated at every session that my AD1, now an adult, could be ‘fixed’ if only I loved her a bit more. Such harmful BS that detonated a grenade into my family set-up.

I think people are questioning whether this is true or simply the OPs opinion. It doesn't sound like they like this person very much, and the comments they've made about social services involvement suggests she is making a lot of assumptions about their role or view.

How would you even know the information about SS involvement unless there had been a serious privacy breach?

In the past year, they were investigated by social services, who found that they are emotionally manipulative, abusive and dishonest.
I personally wouldn't be happy with someone like this giving therapy to my children, although it seems some on this thread would be fine with it and don't see the problem.

Cute though and it has brightened my morning!

Being well enough to do your job is also relevant, and is nothing to do with qualifications and legal permission. I’m not saying that someone with complex mental illness can’t be well enough to work with vulnerable people, but they do need a way of knowing when they need to take a step back.

Every person I know has their own issues, you’ll never find someone that doesn’t have a past. The important thing is how they deal with those issues. They should be stable and emotionally well now, take themselves out of practice if their mental health deteriorates and be prepared to go back into therapy (and have the self awareness to know when it’s time to do so). These are ethical requirements for all registering bodies.

I’d never see a therapist that hasn’t had their own, extensive, therapy - well beyond what most courses ask for. I’d want to know where they trained and to what level, what their supervision arrangements are and what experience they have - one year working 2/3 days a week or 5 years seeing a couple of clients a week are very different.

At the end of the day people need to be prepared to ask questions of any therapist - a good therapist will be happy to talk through their level of training and their professional supports with a prospective client. And yes, knowing you need therapy to deal with the impact of the work on you is actually a strength. Posting about it on social media on the other hand…

I work with vulnerable people, it's a salaried position, so there is "money involved". I also have a life-long diagnosis and a history of severe mental health episodes.

I have a completely clean DBS, which is all that matters when it comes to my suitability or otherwise to work with vulnerable people.

Why is this the case?

Well, because my mental health history is of no more relevance than my physical health history, it's simply not my employer's business, and it's certainly not the business of any of the individuals I work with as a colleague, or as a service provider. It is also absolutely nothing to do with random members of the public, even those who would claim to just be legitimately concerned.

I'm qualified to do my job, I'm legally permitted to do my job. These are the only relevant factors.

Just mind your business, don’t ruin their job

I remember as a late teen saying I'd be interested in becoming a therapist and my DF immediately responded that I hadn't been through enough trauma for that! I pressed him a bit and the therapists he'd encountered socially had all suffered very serious personal tragedies. He felt he felt that you needed to experience something like that to be able to counsel others.

Interesting view as of course you can be empathetic without having directly experienced something, and even if a therapist has been through a certain type of trauma they will likely counsel people in other areas too. But I suspect he's not alone in that line of thinking.

In your situation I would probably let them be as I would hope any issues with their ability to practice would naturally be brought to a head by the system.

Fortunately I'm able to get a job with credible employers, not individuals on Mumsnet who don't understand that 'nothing to hide' doesn't mean giving up your rights.

This isn’t a hairdresser where you might not like your haircut. People are going to her for help with emotional and mental health issues, they may not be in a position to realise that damage is occurring to them.

That’s… something. I really don’t think that’s a reasonable approach to somebody who is dealing with vulnerable patients. For what it’s worth, it sounds like you’re the one projecting rather than the OP here.

Tbf the issues usually do stem from others. They stem from trauma, abuse and powerlessness. They stem from a person's experience of the world and relationships.

I have a mental health illness and trained as a mental health nurse. It made me a much better nurse as I understood suicide etc.

If you think that person could be a danger to people then it's not o.k.

Sounds like a big “none of your business”. As for your “concern” about it not being a regulated profession so the BACP can’t access social services records and medical records, I am a regulated professional (solicitor) and my regulatory body cannot access any social service records, medical records, or indeed any records. If I had a criminal conviction or was being investigated for a criminal offence that would be on me to self-report (with serious consequences for not doing so). When you qualify in to the profession, you have to declare any criminal convictions at that stage. Whatever happens afterwards is for you to self-report.

We don’t live in an Orwellian state where regulators have unfettered access to information relating to people’s personal lives. Get your nose out of hers!

If you want to know if a therapist is not only a member of a decent professional body but also accredited then it’s worth looking at the Professional Standards Authority where they have the registers of the main organisations and you will be able to check if they’re accredited. The main ones are BACP and UKCP for counsellors and therapists and BABCP for cognitive therapists. I can’t speak for all professional bodies but mine requires the following:
post grad specific qualification
Core relevant profession or KSA submission (takes about a year to complete).
placement with close supervision of 1+ years in NHS
submissions for accreditation
enhanced DBS, safeguarding training, GDPR and privacy training, Risk training.

i’m now in private practice and self employed. My professional body requires me to hold certain insurance and an enhanced DBS (organisations like Mayflower help private therapists to obtain these). I am required to reaccredit every 12 months and have to be able to demonstrate regular clinical supervision with a supervisor who is in practice and has held a teaching/academic position and is a qualified supervisor. I have to make my training records available. I have to register a clinical will containing a running record of my cases so if I die or am incapacitated my current clients’ care can be picked up. I have to be registered with the ICO. I can have my practice audited by my professional body at any time. I have to have a compliant contract which sets out my fees, terms, policies, record keeping, confidentiality, risk management approach etc and must make clear what the procedure is if someone wants to complain about me. I have to demonstrate safeguarding, GDPR and risk training that is up to date and inline with current NHS guidelines. I also have other requirements from the insurance companies such as BUPA (and I have to be accredited to work with insurance companies).

Am I a perfect therapist? no. Not even close. I make mistakes. I’m not always the right therapist. I always refer on when a client is beyond my skills and competencies. Has my mental health always been top notch? No. I’ve had PND and depression in the past. And of course no training is watertight, bad apples get through, though I do think the more hoops you have to jump through to be an accredited practitioner the more likely it is that the people attracted to the idea of being a therapist for the wrong reasons probably will fall by the wayside. I would argue that there are therapists and there are therapists, some do a weekend or short course as a counsellor or in CBT or some kind of Woo and think that’s enough. It is terrible that it’s so easy to do and impossible to tell who is who if you don’t know where to look. The slick website and glowing testimonials look good but are often a massive red flag. I feel sorry for anyone trying to work out who to trust. It’s also frustrating that there are so many threads knocking therapists if you’re a therapist trying to do everything you can to be ethical. There are plenty of accredited people on those registers who would be very happy to see dangerous/unsound/unethical people stopped. But it’s easier to stop people who are legitimate - does she have qualifications and accreditation @TherapistKnot?

In the past year, they were investigated by social services, who found that they are emotionally manipulative, abusive and dishonest.
Yeah, not who you'd want giving therapy to children and vulnerable people. It's probably easier for her to get away with it with them. Best to let the police know an abuser is alone with kids and vulnerable people

Well, then you perhaps would not get a job from someone for whom your records matter. As I’d assume you’re trying to hide something.