Is psychotherapy a money making scam?

It’s not exactly a scam, but it is pretty expensive and can often not have any results. But for some people it can be very valuable and worth it.

At least they didn’t prescribe you mind-altering drugs. ;-)

Whether it’s “worth it” really depends on the patient and the psychiatrist and the situation and who’s paying for it and how much.

Apart from people who do need medication or other situations, my understanding (especially from reading the preface to the book Focusing by Eugene Gendlin, which says as much), people who make psychological progress from psychotherapy (one of the main things psychiatrists do, but not everything they do), are mainly processing their own material themselves, which is something that a good patient-therapist match can facilitate, but that can also be done alone or with others.

The good psychiatrists I have seen have been useful and valuable for their professional expertise as smart balanced impartial uninvolved listeners who will let you say practically anything and occasionally offer insights or information, but are mainly giving great safe listening and attention.

I appreciate that, but won’t spend $100+/hour for it now because I’m no longer depressed/upset/etc and I have learned various other techniques and resources for processing my material, which cost less, or nothing, and/or that I can do myself.

I particularly like that Focusing book as an easy intro to something you can do yourself. Also learning Holistic Peer Counseling. And Feldenkrais awareness through movement classes.

I’m not sure whether it is or not. If you phrase the question as “is it possible that psychotherapy can be a front for a money making scam?”
My answer, I can’t imagine a more opportune or lucrative endeavor to part people legally from their money.

I have gone to a few different ones to deal with stress issues and found it practically useless. You would expect decent advice on how to sort your life out, perhaps insights on how to change your behavior. I got none of that, it was you talk I’ll listen. That may help some people but it seems a bit of a waste if you asked me. They really don’t seem to be equipped to help with regular issues people have but more serious things like suicidal people.

The practice of psychology and psychiatry is an art, not a science. Some practitioners are better at helping individuals improve their mental health than others. A few may be charlatans, but most are dedicated to meeting the needs of their clients or patients. Diverse therapeutic models will produce practices that work for some but not others. Therefore, one may have to try several practitioners before finding one that best fits their needs.

Pharmacology, unfortunately, has been promoted as a quick and easy means to alleviate symptoms. Though efficacy is generally limited to temporally reducing severity of symptoms that may allow effective communication between therapist and client, its use too often is promoted as a panacea. Treatment of emotional and cognitive difficulties will improve as research produces a better understanding of how the brain’s functions and how the social environment interacts with them.

IMO, yes and no. A initial evaluation could/can be beneficial, but a long drawn out string of visits could/can be scamish.

Not knowing the specifics, I can say I have turned to paid therapists because I had no family to turn to, and didn’t want to share certain personal things with friends. I think it can be a very useful business that’s for sure…but I can’t help but think, unless someone has a serious mental health issue, it is often sadly a person in whom one can confide and speak freely…a paid friend..paid family member of sorts to just listen and offer advice (hopefully) without negative judgment. Frankly, I don’t know how people have the stomach to listen to so many problems all the time, so getting paid for it is quite fair! It is a business after all, and like every other business, there are the scammers. You have to trust your gut.