Men have no. Business. In. The. Psychiatric. Therapy. Of. Girls. And. Women.
Not only because men are much more likely to be biased and more likely to mindlessly accept misogynistic theory in psychiatry, but also because especially young, vulnerable girls and women cannot differentiate an adult male in authority being understanding and offering a space to be vulnerable "without consequences" from a romantic or sexual interest. There were so many more comments of girls admitting they're in love with their male therapist. This is fucking scary.
This is prevalent and something many more girls and women should be told about and be aware of. I say this as someone who's been on both sides of psychology as a patient and as a professional.
Just a few examples I have: when I was 11 or so attending a group therapy for women and girls struggling with the aftermath of SA and rape I asked the mediator, a woman, why there were no men who acted as mediators. She said they'd had issues of male psychologists acting unprofessional towards the women, trying to hit on them or take advantage of their vulnerability to to make a move, so they stuck to female mediators. When I worked as a crisis hotline operator, I overheard a group of 3 of my male coworkers sharing the story of a woman who called in because she'd just experienced SA. After that I tried getting management to get training that made male operators ask people calling in if they'd rather talk to a female operator instead. That training model was vetoed and none of the male operators were fired. The times I was witness to blatant victim blamiing, misogyny and rape fetishism by my male peers during Psych school are too many to count. There was no curriculum training to male psychologists on how to unlearn that, and all the voluntary lectures and classes focused on how to help women who were victims of sexual violence were mostly just female attenders.
I say all this to make sure it's justified when I say that no woman or girl should feel the only option is to disclose their trauma or feelings to a male. You have every right, with no shame or guilt, with or without explaining why, to change the professional you're seeing from a male to a female. The male professionals who are truly worthy of carrying the titles and responsibilities they were given will grant that no questions asked.
To the women and girls who find themselves in a situation, be that a police station, a hotline, an emergency clinic or a inpatient ward, where they can't properly chose the professional they see and the professional is a male, PLEASE make that known. Say 'I don't feel safe/comfortable talking about this to man. I'd rather see/talk to a woman. I'm not unwilling to cooperate or resisting help, I would just feel more safe/comfortable talking to a woman when disclosing the information I need to give.' If you're worried you'll be punished or reprimanded for asking for female service, ask that to be put on record.
Male violence and supremacy does NOT stay out of psych. Girls and women need to be taught how to defend themselves against this.
