Ethical behavior?
Hi there, looking for a professional gut-check (and/or reality check!), as I feel pretty confused after therapy today. Apologies in advance if this is not a suitable post for this sub.
I had an (unexpected) termination session with my personal therapist today. She knows I am an MSW student pursuing clinical social work, and over the course of treatment, a dynamic developed where she would often be a sort of mentor figure, as she is a seasoned LCSW-R herself with 40+ years experience between working in the field and doing private practice. I am 34 years old, and my professional goals (and uncertainties, and frustrations) play a large factor in processing my own anxiety and depression. So, social work came up in therapy a lot.
Throughout treatment, I felt like she was frequently dismissing/belittling my own growing knowledge and awareness about social work, including about things that turned out to be factually incorrect on her end. Regrettably, I didn’t always name these feelings in real time because I was honestly doubting myself and deferred to her insight. But after the pattern kept happening, I finally felt comfortable enough to name it directly to her and challenge it a bit, trying to explain how I continually felt disrespected and belittled.
I honestly was open to challenging one another in a more open way, since I think the resistance happening could have been a chance for some real growth to be uncovered through enactment or a corrective emotional experience etc etc. But, she became very defensive and ultimately terminated me.
I’m ultimately ok with it, but a few specific things she said are sticking with me, and some other perspectives could be helpful!
During session, when I was revisiting some incorrect assumptions about my Medicaid eligibility that she had made in sessions prior, she took her phone out to look it up and showed me outdated information from a quick google search. Then I read to her the correct info, and she ultimately said “Well I don’t know everything. I am not perfect and I am much older than you. I am dying.” I found her statement about death to be inappropriate, given the context.
She also said “I don’t work with clients I don’t like.” before showing me the door. That’s ok, I can take it - and honestly I understand it! But it also felt inappropriate to me.
Are there ethical or clinical considerations when a therapist is treating someone who is also a social work student/clinician in training? I felt like the dual dynamic created complications in practice… but I also sought it out initially because I thought it would help me to work with a therapist with similar values. And I feel that being therapy is an important thing especially as I pursue this work.
I hope it’s possible to see that I’m not looking to villainize her. I’m genuinely just trying to calibrate my own barometer here on what constitutes appropriate behavior. Appreciate any thoughts!