The counseling profession is fine in itself, it's just the kind of
people you run into while you're there. I've found it to be true
especially in nonprofit or poorly-funded government agencies, where
people tend to be more overloaded and therefore bitter, but in
general I think it's a crapshoot. I've also found it more in social
work jobs than in mental health research--which I've recently
considered going back into.

Good luck!





--- In emotionalabuse@yahoogroups.com, "Carter, Richard"
<rcarter@e...> wrote:
> Oh boy, and I'm making moves to go into the mental health
profession.
> Should I think twice? Do you know any counselors? Do you know
about the
> counseling profession? What forewarnings would you give me?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mjsmoller [mailto:jabber1997@h...]
> Sent: Friday, October 03, 2003 2:42 PM
> To: emotionalabuse@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Emotional Abuse] Crotchety Coworkers
>
>
> I'm in the social service field and I have had it up to here with
> coworkers (mainly female, and I'm female too!) who take it upon
> themselves to go beyond mere correction of the behavior, and move
> into deep character jabs and button-pushing.
>
> First experience was when I was working at an agency for troubled
> teens. I was given NO training whatsoever, except for reading the
> manual 9-5 my first day--after that I was thrown in among a bunch
of
> delinquent teens and expected to use "common sense" to discpline
> them. The manager, ironcially in the psych field herself, called
me
> in one day and reamed me with a whole list of things I'd done wrong
> that others had gone behind my back to report (after saying to my
> face that I was doing a good job!!! How 2-faced!). Turned out that
> people were saying I was "spacey," had "poor judgment and
> intellectual skills," and a whole bunch of other nasty things, all
> because on my first damn day I had no clue how to discipline some
> delinquent teens who were literally running all over the staff.
> Then, senior staff would let things happen and blame ME for it
("Why
> didn't you DO something? That was your responsibility!") I was
> never allowed to ask questions on shift, I'd always hear about how
it
> was "my responsibility to know," and there was one lady in
particular
> who used to pull me into the staff office, slam the door, and
> literally boot camp me when I'd make mistakes. not to mention
> calling me "reckless" and reminding me that I was endangering the
> agency's well-being and spending good taxpayer money ruthlessly by
> screwing up. I'm sure she would have blamed me if hte place was
> audited. All because a neew, untrained staff member was feeling
> overwhelmed.
>
> Now, at my current position, also with kids, I have a couple of
> coworkers who not only do the boot-camp thing when I'm wrong, but
use
> classic abuse/manipulation techniques to get what they want. For
> example, they'll put the fear of God in me for being late to a
> meeting, but when I knock on the lady's door right on time or early
> for our consultation, she'll have someone else scheduled and will
> scream at me for interrupting. AFTER SHE TOLD ME TO BE THERE!!
When
> I tried to stick up for myself the first time, pointing out that
she
> *had* asked me to come at that time, she told me it was 'common
sense
> and good judgment' (here we go again) not to interrupt people's
> private business. Oh and that "everyone else at the agency felt
the
> same way" (Uh no they don't--others usually understand). She also
> totally gult-tripped me for wanting to change the time of a
scheduled
> event, accusing me of being "lazy" and not wanting to make the most
> of my training (She assumed I was moving it so I could have a
freebee
> hour--actually it was because I have my OWN client schedule and I
> need to work around these things too). In the last 2 weeks I have
> been called lazy, lacking in basic common sense, and stupid, just
for
> not knowing some petty woman's moods and the change in rules that
> seemed to occur without my knowing.
>
> It's classic abuse--First they don't communicate, then they blame
you
> for not knowing and/or scold you for asking because it's "common
> sense to know these things." Or, they tell you something's
> inconvenient for them, but when you offer to move the time, they
call
> you lazy or demanding. They set you up in total catch-22's, then
> break you down and kick you while you're down.
>
> And this is the field of "helping people."
>
> I think some social service folk need to stop and check their
> hypocrisy at the door. You're in a helping profession--that means
> respecting everyone, not buttering up your clients' asses and then
> tearing down your coworkers as target practice.
>
> Christ almighty.
>
> Help.
>
>
>
>
>
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