Can “Cutting Off” Parents Advice Be Malpractice?

Letter to Philippians: Researchers are starting to blame therapists for the rise in adult clients needlessly “cutting off” their moms & dads? If so, malpractice lawyers’ ears surely perked up upon hearing what to them is “good news” over what jurors might see as “toxic advice” …

As the WSJ story succinctly put it: “Many moms & dads believe that their adult children are getting bad advice – and a growing number of researchers agree: ‘Everything becomes trauma.’” The piece pulls no punches in asking whether therapists who go over the top or overboard in suggesting (if not recommending) vulnerable clients to cut off ties with parents helps … or hurts the parties: “Is it really good therapy to break your mother’s heart?” The WSJ suggests, some therapists now “encouraging estrangement as a means of self-care” ironically comes “after decades of urging families to communicate better and work on their issues together.” The dilemma is captured in this one revealing paragraph: “Proponents [of the estrangement advice] hold that advising patients to consider a cutoff from a close relative or spouse they deem toxic or unsupportive can protect their mental health and allow for emotional growth. Meanwhile, critics—many of whom are researchers who have studied relationships for decades – say that it encourages self-centeredness and self-delusion and ruins families.”

Are you reading this carefully my fellow mouth pieces? What if the supposed victims of parental abuse start to see themselves as victims of therapy abuse? Therapists taking the “burining bridges tack” may or may not be giving scientifically & medically sound advice in a given case. But regardless, you can bet the farm that the growing body of research suggesting it can be wrong at best and terrible at worst. It also means malpractice attorneys are being armed with strong arguments in THEIR clients’ potential lawsuits claiming their families were needlessly ruined by a toxic therapist.

Davd Soul