What is therapy? The definition can be as narrow as “The medical treatment of disease” (from Oxford English Dictionary), or it can be broadened to include an activity that helps an individual achieve a state of hope, stability, or thriving whether that activity bears medical meaning, is a group activity, but may also be an individual activity should an individual regard there to be therapeutic aspects in their work, in their spiritual practice, or any other activity that they may enjoy or value.
Usually when we talk about therapy, we are talking about a treatment involving a trained professional and a client.
In this writing, we will consider therapy specifically to refer to talk therapy or psychotherapy. By this we mean a therapist and a client discussing their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a safe, confidential environment.
As an organization that supports talking and sharing as a road to healing of our individual trauma, confusion, and pain, we also hold positive views toward this kind of therapy.
However it is neither necessary to be in therapy, or to be in therapy, in order to join our meetings or to contribute as a member. So long as one is open to sharing and listening with respect for peers and with emotionally non-violent attitudes, it is not even necessary to view therapy in an altogether positive light, especially if one has had negative or coercive experiences. Our mission as an organization is to empower those who feel they have experienced misdiagnosis. This includes being empowered to find every kind of resource that helps individual finding stability, health and flourishing. And this can include support in finding good therapy! However, we are not a directory for finding a therapist, many of these already exist. Primarily, our organization is designed to create space for peer support.
The recommending of therapy is all too often weaponized in the broader world. At Misdiagnosed Anonymous, we are particular sensitive to this. Suggesting therapy to another member, or even suggesting: “This type of therapy really worked for me, maybe it will work for you!”, while it may be well-intentioned, is also a form of cross-talk. Cross-talk is not the kind of sharing and listening that meetings are designed for.
It isn’t that, in your journey through MA, you wouldn’t be able to at some point compare notes with a mentor on therapy, therapists, what works and what doesn’t, and how to find help without resorting to giving a false appearance of medical illness or inappropriately inhabiting a slavish role.
Therapy is a very personal endeavor. Also, everyone’s insurance and financial situations may be different such that expecting that they can afford to see the therapist that they want or the quality of therapist they want may carry prejudicial bias.
In summary, while we support therapy generally, especially gentle and non-coercive talk therapy, we know that supposedly therapeutic but power-imbalanced contexts have gone hand-in-hand with extending or even furthering emotional and relational trauma in our member’s experiences. It is our belief that psychiatric culture has erred far in its belief of sedation in the last several decades, and against belief in the curative power of sharing morals, understanding, individual insight, and speaking truth. And so we welcome ambivalence and agnosticism regarding proscribed therapy generally, in support of sharing and non-coercion.
We, no matter how well we may listen to and support one another in meetings, are not officially or officially acting as therapists. We are a peer organization supporting peers and peer insight — through a commitment to sharing, listening, their group, and the Twelve Steps — finding hope and self-direction in their lifelong journeys toward success and stability, relational harmony and healing.
Misdiagnosed Anonymous 