Something missing from "go to therapy" discourse is that most therapists are not very good?

My therapy experience has ranged from "unhelpful" to "actively made things worse"

A previous therapist told my that my dear friend's suicide, which emotionally devastated me for years, was a "gift."

Another therapist recommended restrictive diets and weight loss to cure body dysmorphia and an eating disorder.

Another therapist just... didn't show up to appointments for several weeks and didn't notify me of the cancellations in advance. I'd make it to the office and find there was no appointment. The day I stopped going, she phoned me angrily & accused me of not wanting to get better.

Another one accused me of not wanting to get better because I didn't like the antidepressants her psych put me on--they'd caused me to act real weird, fall asleep in class and gain FIFTY GODDAMN POUNDS

I've never seen a shitty person improve with therapy; I've only ever seen them find new and exciting ways to rationalize their awful behavior.

The problem isn't just with individual bad therapists (though there are many). Our entire model of mental health and treatment is completely wrong.

For example--eating disorder treatment fails the majority of the time. They genuinely don't know how to fix it--they just keep doing something that doesn't work and blaming patients for relapses. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2019/11/416006/many-patients-anorexia-nervosa-get-better-complete-recovery-elusive-most

Therapy is premised on the hyper-individualistic idea that we can turn ourselves into perfect islands of joy and self-esteem regardless of the world around us, regardless of what other people do to us. That is... not how our species works at fucking all.

therapist: Have you tried exercise? It can help with depression.
me: I work out regularly.
therapist [staring at my midsection]: Are you suuuuuuuure?