Women share their most messed-up therapy experiences - including one therapist who took patient to get matching TATTOOS

Nearly one-third of American women are in therapy, whether they're looking for help with anxiety, depression, work stress or relationship issues, tens of millions of women seek support. 

But what happens when the professional you turn to for help with your problems ends up becoming a problem themselves?

Women on social media are sharing their therapy horror stories, including paying practitioners hundreds of dollars per hour just for them to fall asleep in sessions, victim blame their clients or tell them to simply 'get over' their problems. 

One 31-year-old New Yorker told DailyMail.com one of the first times she visited a therapist in high school the provider fell asleep in her chair 'just as I was finally able to gain the courage to open up about something that had happened to me.'

Amy Nordhues, author of Prayed Upon: Breaking Free from Therapist Abuse , said in a TikTok: 'There are so many bad therapists out there'

Amy Nordhues said her therapist fell asleep during one their sessions while she was describing 'a very painful story'

Not only was it awkward, but it was extremely discouraging. 

And she isn't the only patient 'whose trauma wasn't entertaining enough to keep the therapist awake.' 

Amy Nordhues, author of Prayed Upon: Breaking Free from Therapist Abuse, said in a TikTok: 'There are so many bad therapists out there.'

Ms Nordhues said her therapist fell asleep during one of their sessions while she was describing 'a very painful story.' 

'She had the nerve to question me,' Ms Nordhues said in the video.

She added: 'On top of that, she said, "Well, I've heard that story a million times."'

Licensed marriage and family therapist Lauren Accolla described three major red flags to watch out for when seeing a therapist: Lack of progress; the therapist overshares personal details or crosses boundaries; and the practitioner does not disclose their training or licensure information. 

In one example of blurring the patient-provider line, Ray Yasmine described her horror therapy story on TikTok: 'I saw my first long term therapist as a teenager. Trusted her with all my guts. 

'When we stopped the therapeutic relationship she invited me over to her house, took me out to eat, and on the day I was moving out of state for grad school, she took me to get matching tattoos together.

'My current therapist, who she referred me to, then reported her (but got no repercussions) and only at 26 [years old] realized how wrong all that was. 

'The tattoo is now covered up.'

Dr Liz, who is herself a psychologist, said in a TikTok she has had her own experiences with 'really toxic therapists,' including those who have pushed the clinical relationship limits. 

On Tiktok, Victoria Vance said one therapist she went to as a kid for her anxiety told her to 'pray to God about it'

Dr Liz said: 'Therapists make mistakes, and that’s human of us, but these ones are obviously unacceptable.'  

The psychologist said she has had therapists flirt and push romantic and sexual boundaries with her, take her partner's side in couples therapy and 'ghost' her, suddenly and unexpectedly ending all communication with no warning or explanation. 

In some cases, therapists respond without compassion, give bad advice or minimize a patient's feelings and experiences.  

TikTok user Brianne Olsen described her 'worst therapy experience ever' in a video, saying her therapist told her: 'It seems like you have everything going for you, you don't have any reason to be sad.' 

The therapist also dismissed her depression symptoms and previous ADHD diagnosis. 

She ended the appointment with telling Ms Olsen to 'cheer up.' 

Ms Olsen said the experience made her not want to return to therapy, but commenters, including some identifying themselves as therapists, told her to 'Give up on [the therapist], not therapy.'

Reddit user azmasaco wrote her therapist told her to 'wipe the slate clean' and start trusting her husband again after years of physical and emotional abuse and infidelity. 

Another wrote their therapist told them to 'Stop being sad and speak to people,' despite the person suffering from depression and social anxiety. 

Reddit user FutureMailCarrier wrote their therapist's advice on tackling their issues was to 'Face your fears.'

On Tiktok, Victoria Vance, the daughter of a therapist, said one provider she went to as a kid for her anxiety told her to 'pray to God about it.'

'That was not that answer I was looking for,' she said.

READ MORE: One in TEN high school students have attempted suicide

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that in 2021, 10.2 percent of US high school students said they had attempted to kill themselves in the past 12 months, up from around 8 percent in 2019.

User MeltyMermaid97 commented one of their therapists said it was her dad's own fault for getting cancer. 

Another added their therapist told her to 'quit with the theatrics' when she was having a mental breakdown during one of their sessions.

In another instance, one Reddit user's practitioner told her she would 'miss the attention' someday after she revealed a man followed her around a store blowing kisses, waving, and asking for her number even after she asked him - shortly after she had been stalked by another man.

Redditer Wackydetective said: 'About a year before my father died, they convinced him to go to therapy. He was a retired trucker with a potty mouth. My brother went missing 10 years ago after the death of my mother. It was my Father’s greatest sorrow. 

'The therapist said to him, “I think it’s time to accept that your son is dead.”

WrestlingWoman also commented: 'First time seeing one. I had never opened up before and decided to give her a fair chance. I answered all her questions and told her what had happened to me as a child. 

'Her answer to my trauma: "Why aren't you over that yet? Other people had it worse than you and they're over it." 

Dr Danna Bodenheimer, a therapist in Philadelphia, said: 'Therapists can be incredibly harmful and, in fact, if therapists are not monitoring themselves on a constant vigilant basis, chances are they are going to do something harmful because they're given a sense of power and a false sense of expertise about the people they're working with that leave the person feeling oftentimes like they don't know themselves.'

She said it was important for therapists to be 'human' and engage with their clients in a way that lets patients know 'they're sitting with a real person.'

Despite the roundup of bad advice and unprofessional behavior, therapists and patients alike stress the importance of therapy and explain it may take some time to find a provider you connect and feel comfortable with. 

But, many add, it's worth it in the end.