more churning

What follows is a little propaganda for the good guys, who went to school a long time, worked hard and studied the art and science of what they do.

I did not mean to imply that a machine can be a better therapist than a trained, experienced, intuitive, sensitive clinician,  I only meant to say that people will relate to a machine, and sometimes find it helpful.

Dogs are helpful too.

If I were to refer my best friend's sister to a therapist, I would refer her to a Ph.D. psychologist.  As I said in the last post, having a Ph.D. does not guarantee that a person is a good therapist.  There are many good therapists who do not have a Ph.D.

But the odds are better, if they do.  It means they have learned about a lot more stuff: brains, culture, families, bodies, child development, learning theory, and how to evaluate research so as not to be fooled or manipulated.  It means they have been supervised by several different supervisors, probably with several different orientations  (MSWs usually get that too).

Also, although they may not be fantastic therapists all the time, seeing a Ph.D. really decreases the odds of getting a BAD therapist.  There are bad therapists.  They are not trained as well, they often think they know more than they do, they don't see boundaries clearly, they want to be Dr. Phil, or they are not aware of their own shit and how it can spill over everything.

Machines are usually insincere.  They may sound like they care, but they don't.