Right it was 10 years ago, I was 17, and I am over it. But having spoken to some other therapists since them am i right in thinking this therapist was out of order.
I was 17, having panic attacks and had been referred to a therapist by my GP. I was eligible for free therapy as i was under 18. I had an initial appointment with a therapist who asked about my background. I talked abou the problems I had been having and eventually she mentioned that I was wearing a cross around my neck and was my family religious. I said yes, they were Catholic.
She asked if this meant that I came from a very strict, judgemental background where I wasn't allowed to say how I felt and asked if that was making me unhappy.
I said no, my family are actually quite liberal, my father is an atheist.
She then asked if we talked about sex and contraception.
I said yes, a bit, my family acknowledge that I may be sexually active, talk about the emotional and physical aspect of sex and relationships and my mother (v embarrassingly) asks if I understand how important it is to use condoms.
The counsellor then said that she thought I must be unhappy due to the conflict at home and inconstancy of my parenting as 'how could I know what was expected of me in a catholic household that was inconsistent in its views?'
I said no I don't think that has anything to do with it, as I am just v miserable as I have few friends and feel like I am under a lot of pressure to do well. (BTW I now think I just had a chemical imbalance as I had a v hard adolescence mentally). I didn't go back and started counseling with the sixth form service which helped a lot.
I am unreasonable to think she was projecting her own views on to me a bit too much? And wasn't really listening to what I had to say? And was a judgemental cow bag and therapists shouldn't be?