Any other BACP members on here?

[lalawasthebestteletubby]

I've nc for this post, because my professional association is so fucking captured I can't not. I do hang around these parts, mostly lurking but post a bit.

I wrote to BACP when 'Captured' was published, after being chased several times they wrote back basically saying they weren't going to comment on it. Now I get home from work and find my Therapy Today on the doormat, with it's cover article 'Why pronouns matter'.

I've only skimmed it as it makes me too angry, but essentially it's a non binary therapist expecting their clients to 'enable me to be me at work ' i.e. use their preferred name and pronouns. A particular gem which caught my eye is 'I no longer engage in 'debates' around the existence of different identities. It's essential that my identity or that of a client/supervisee is simply respected, otherwise we get into the territory of fascist rhetoric masquerading as free speech'.

FUCKING WHAT?! You are the therapist, the client isn't there to validate you and your oh so special identity, why would a client even need to know your preferred pronouns, when would they be speaking about you to need them? IT'S NOT FUCKING MEANT TO BE ABOUT YOU

Sorry for the rant but honest to betsey I am so sick of this SHIT.

[gardenbird48]

Just as a heads up - this thread has attracted attention from certain people on Twitter who are not being very complimentary.

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

That's so interesting about Maslow's.

I'm not a CP but I am a member of the HCPC.

I can't do my job, which sex is a central issue in, if I have to pretend that sex isn't real.

I live in Scotland where the Hate Crime Bill is about to criminalise me for believing that the trans woman who accesses my clinic is of the male sex.

If a patients sex is clinically relevant and I need to mention it in order to provide good care - then I think I'll be vulnerable to an accusation of tranphsobia as a hate crime. Which could get me struck off.

The problem with this situation is that I would not contemplate applying for a post at a gender clinic. It is all too fraught, too political, too dangerous to my career to work at a GIC. Which is a shame, as I have th skills, experience and nature to be ideal to work with that population, apart from you know, being able to recognise sex when I see it.

How will waiting lists at GICs ever come down if HCPs are wary (for good reason) of working in this field?

It's all so short sighted and stupid. All of it.

[Summerhillsquare]

Can't wait to see Jessica Taylor on this. She would be tear it to bits.

Surely potential clients will give narcissists like this a wide berth?

[lalawasthebestteletubby]

gardenbird wow Twitter really is a cesspit, I hardly ever venture there. The scary thing is, I think they really believe that a therapist who thinks therapy should be about the client, not the therapist, should be disciplined or struck off. They really think they are so, so marginalised and oppressed that anyone, even someone paying them for professional help, should centre them over all else. Wow.

[SqueakyLittleAliens]

@gardenbird48

Just as a heads up - this thread has attracted attention from certain people on Twitter who are not being very complimentary.

Fascinating as ever... that Twitter response in response to a post/small thread saying that it shouldn't be a CLIENT'S responsibility to affirm a THERAPIST.

[Poettherapist]

I saw the OP on Twitter too and am moved to join Mumsnet as a result. I have also read the article and the quotes are out of context to the whole.

All I can say is that those who are very critical and angry about it might want to:

A) Read it
B) Do some meaningful CPD on diversity if you're STILL angry after reading it

Namaste

[lalawasthebestteletubby]

Oh I'd be happy to do some meaningful CPD on diversity - unless by 'diversity' you just mean centring trans people? Perhaps the author of the article would like to do some too, in order to understand why they were breaching the rights of, for example, observant muslims, if (as they describe in the article) they have been judged for using male, female and disabled public toilet facilities (sorry not sorry I can't be bothered to find the journal to find the exact wording)? Or is that another out of context quote?

Maybe while we're at it we could all have a little glance at the ethical framework, for instance our commitment to 'Put clients first by making clients our primary concern while we are working with them' and our principles of, just as an example, 'Autonomy: respect for the client’s right to be self-governing' and 'Beneficence: a commitment to promoting the client’s wellbeing'. Let's all do that, shall we?

[samosamo]

Fair enough. Alone 'women' might not seem so significant, but taken together with straight, middle class, and white I think it is. These women are often very privileged and entitled. I've heard so many thoughtless comments that I've tried in vain to forget. Lack of diversity is one of the profession's major failings in my opinion.

[samosamo]

Sorry that was to @MrsWinnicott

[gardenbird48]

@samosamo

Fair enough. Alone 'women' might not seem so significant, but taken together with straight, middle class, and white I think it is. These women are often very privileged and entitled. I've heard so many thoughtless comments that I've tried in vain to forget. Lack of diversity is one of the profession's major failings in my opinion.

Hi samo can expand on your point please? Which women are you describing as straight, middle class, white, privileged and entitled?

[MrsWooster]

I’m a therapist and I’m white, middle aged, middle class, and female. None of that is relevant because the therapy isn’t about me. It is something I consider in order to exclude my prejudice and to ensure I’m able to work within the client’s frame of reference and, after that, I sit the fuck down because this is the client’s journey, not mine.

[alwayslucky]

Hmm...Where, logically, would this stop? Am I a Peer of the Realm, a Nobel Prize winner, and an Olympic Gold Medallist, because 'that is how I choose to identify myself'?

[samosamo]

@gardenbird48

Clinical psychologists