Isn't being a therapist dangerous?

Question

I mean a mental person may be going out of control and can hurt the therapist.

Answer 1

They've done studies and found that patients with mental illness are no more violent than the general population. So, a therapist is no more likely to be attacked than the McDonald's drive-through cashier.
If a patient is violent, more than likely, they are psychotic. In most cases, psychotic people do not respond well to therapy. They are just too disorganized and too confused to really process anything in therapy.
There is always the risk of having someone who is just very frustrated and angry and it is possible that they will attack you. But like I said, its not likely to happen.

In the 9-10 years in this field, I have never been physically attacked. I even went into about 40 homes a week, delivery meds. I have been threatened plenty of times. However, they train you how to protect yourself in these rare situations. They teach you how to get yourself to safety, without hurting the patient. They also teach you where to place yourself when with a patient who is not well.
One of the times I was threatened, I was careful to position myself closest to the door, for the easiest escape. I was able to get out the door, down the hall, and lock myself in an office until the patient calmed himself.

Answer 2

It can be. I actually stopped being a therapist and went into education because I worked at a state psychiatric hospital and there were several incidents in which I thought I could have been hurt (not killed but definitely hurt). Even though you receive training on how to handle dangerous situations, it never seems like enough. It's part of the hazards of "helping others." :-) If you do private practice however, you can be more selective about who your clients are which decreases the chances of being in a dangerous situation.

Answer 3

Yes and no! I've suffered more physical attacks in the course of my work in spychiatric wards than i do now.

If you know your subject well, have good communication skills, learn to identify a potential problem with your clients so that you are prepared ... Then it is not dangerous! You can at times feel for some people and worry about them but you should always respect the golden rule ... Do not bring your work at home! You've been out, dealt with people's problems, you've invested quite some time answering their questions, reassured them, implemented plans of action over which ... You have no further control! Sometimes clients can develop some sort of an attachment to you and you need to remind then gently but firmly that the relationship at teh time of therapy was purely professional, not social. You wish them well and that's that!

Answer 4

For a thing like that to happen, the person would have to be recruited in a mental hospital, and anyways there are nurses that can help with that. I dont think its dangerous. There is a code that if the person can hurt himself or others you can tell the authorities.

Answer 5

Yes it is a dangerous job, clients could hurt the therapist, but I think there are measure in place for that. As with everything in life there is a good side and a bad side.

So let's look at the good side, they are REALLY helping people!

Answer 6

no this is not risky, maximum persons i understand can take care of themselves merely high quality while extreme, regardless of the incontrovertible fact that frequently times you get TOO stoned and can't end giggling or stay unsleeping. those are extreme circumstances. i will't do it anymore because of the fact I even have stress problems and getting extreme gets me much greater paranoid and frightened. For some reason, once I get extreme, it sounds like i've got been snoozing for months and that i awaken and comprehend existence for what that's and this is frightening and frightening and does not experience secure. Lol. this is loopy. i will't take care of it so i'm giving it a ruin. Oh yeah, and that i understand those that have been arrested for text cloth messaging approximately making pot bargains. you ought to be careful who you get it from/tell approximately it.

Answer 7

Maybe sometimes. I was once in the waiting room of a Kaiser hospital's mental health department when a new therapist went to the receptionist's desk and asked what he should do if he needed to signal that he was in trouble with his patient and needed emergency assistance. The receptionist just looked at him like he was crazy himself, since they had no such plan set up.

Answer 8

I'm not a therapist, but I can think of a lot more dangerous professions.

Answer 9

i would say yes..not too many other jobs out there where u deal with actual mentally insane people on a constant basis

Answer 10

is it working in hospital like a doctor or nurse dangerous?
what do you mean?