Completely agree and I actually think it's kind of insane that it's like this. Imagine if it was like this with regular doctors. If you were afraid to describe all your symptoms. 'Hi doctor, there's something wrong with me but I can't really tell you what or, how bad it is.' How can they properly treat people if they don't know the entire story?
I think it's mainly down to the culture of blame that's sprung up everywhere. I suspect everyone is just so scared of being held accountable. And, let's be honest- it likely would happen too. If a therapist knows a person was actively suicidal and had the means to do it and, they did end up doing it and their family members found out, I reckon some would go after the therapist.
I guess that comes off of the idea though that the suicidal person can't think for themselves. They need to be protected from themselves. Even if that means taking away their rights and freedom. Obviously, I don't agree with this in most cases.
What I think is ironic is that in order to cover themselves, companies use paperwork, forms, tick boxes to make sure they are following all the rules and can't be held liable. But this takes away the personal element so much. You can sense that they themselves are under pressure trying to get their paperwork done. Maybe not with therapists as such although- no doubt, they do keep records to try and protect themselves. But, in other walks of life where people show up with the job of caring, I think this becomes evident.
I've been on both sides too. I was a First Aider at Work for a period and an elderly lady had an accident. You want to go along and be compassionate and tend to their needs- which you do at the start. But then, you have all this paperwork to fill in with them while they are on the floor bleeding and waiting for the ambulance! I guess it has to be done but you can tell by the wording of the form, it's trying to remove responsibility from the company the whole time.
When I had a welfare check after the whole IC SN thing, it was very evident that one of the officers in particular was kind of stressed about doing things by the book, ticking the boxes. That's not to say there shouldn't be procedures. I suppose they are there to ensure a fair protocol is being followed but, it does turn it all into a ticking boxes exercise, rather than a human one. That's not their fault- it's the powers above them. It's very difficult to juggle it all I expect.
But, definitely, I think all this paperwork protocol, liability stuff puts so much pressure on people and takes up so much of their focus and time that it hampers them from doing their actual job! That goes for all kinds of professions- teachers, care workers, police. They must spend so much time documenting what they've done rather than doing it! It's so sad really that trust has gone. We clearly aren't trusted to do our jobs anymore. We need tick sheets to show we've done it. Which is dumb anyway because, people will end up lying if they get in trouble for not doing certain things but they didn't have the time. Again though- that allows the company to lay the blame on the individual employee.
