If you take a look inside just a few of the BPD chat rooms online you will soon find someone saying their therapist refused to accept them. This happens a lot when it comes to BPD and it can be quite triggering for the person being refused the help they are reaching out for. Sadly the reason why some therapist refuse people with BPDs is often suckier than the way they do it…
First up, I need to side with the therapists by reminding you that there are a multitude of reasons why a therapist might not want to work with you. You might not jell together and therapy is a two-way street. You need to trust/like your therapist and they need to feel the same way about you. Also, maybe they are fully booked and simply don’t have time to take on someone else, or maybe they feel they just don’t have the skills to help you.
The truth is none of those things are the main reasons why therapist refuse so many people with BPD. It is all about BPD treatment as a whole. You see, it can be hard to treat BPD at the best of times. The many different symptoms we have often mean therapy is not the first point of help we need and it should be more medical than mental health. By getting the right mood stabilizers or antidepressants you can then be ready for therapy. And the therapist themselves have to think about their reputation and sadly that is why a lot of them refuse people with BPD. With such a high rate of failure with talk-based treatments a therapist might not want to work with someone with BPD as it could hurt their reputation as a therapist!
The key thing when being rejected by a therapist is to be understanding. Ask them why they can’t help you without judgment, talk to them about your own expectations given how difficult it can be to treat BPD. Let’s face it, if you don’t get a simple/straight answer that therapist probably wasn’t right for you anyway. Yes, it can suck being rejected by one, but there are so many these days you can always find one who is willing to work with you after a bit of searching. Just don’t take it too badly and never let one set-back put you off getting the help you need.
If you have any other questions relating to BPD or would just like some advice on the disorder do get in touch with us via the contact us page. It’s easy to do, we are both responsive and confidential, plus we never save any of your details in any way.
