Delena Nguyen

Review of Asian counseling and referral ...

I debated writing this review quite a bit, but I m...

I debated writing this review quite a bit, but I m still seething. I don t know where else to put this. I don t want to make a formal complaint either due to what I ve heard from others who made complaints about therapists whose actions weren t clearly wrong.

I am a second-generation Vietnamese-American. I am twenty years old and mentally ill. I ve had trouble holding down a job and staying in school. I had a difficult childhood and have been mentally ill for several years.

I went to therapy for two years before coming to ACRS. I improved quite a bit, but I was on medication that I needed to get off of. This was why I went to ACRS (my previous place stopped offering medication management for minor cases). I planned on leaving after I had tapered off my medication, which is why I allowed these things to happen for so long.

I kept telling myself that it would be a hassle to change. Please keep this in mind as you read this.

My case manager often scolded me and was openly disapproving. Therapists can t express approval or disapproval of their clients. They are only human, so it happens from time to time, but she d regularly say you can t spend your time doing x or you need to do x . My relatives got me to apply for SSI in the past and it was an ongoing case. I kept stating I wanted to drop it, but she kept telling me to leave it open.

My first therapist said that a therapist can only teach a client how to fish; they can t catch fish for them or feed them.

I still tried my best to explain my intense trauma, and she would chalk it up to Vietnamese culture.

She would tell me that my mother was a good mother. Therapists need to remain neutral.

She was often aggressive. I would tell her anecdotes about my friends when they were relevant to our discussion, but she thought that I was worried about that happening to me and scolded me. I was too timid to try to clarify.

At another point, she told me, You cannot come to your appointments to only talk about your week. She also told me, You need clear goals for your therapy or you will get assigned a new case manager. (This is exactly what she said, I found a text I sent to my friend immediately after the session).

Some people only go to therapy to talk.

Once I talked about switching from Seattle to the Kent location with a new case manager after I tapered off my medication. I was told at my intake that Kent only had a doctor once a week, so I chose Seattle even though it was further away. I asked to switch because my mother wanted me to remain in therapy.

She told me as soon as I asked that Kent didn t have mental health services and only has classes. I found out later, through the Department of Health website, that they do. They just don t have substance use or pathological gambling services. I still wonder if she intentionally lied to me to keep a client or she genuinely didn t know.

After I was groped by someone I trusted, I felt as though she was blaming me for what happened. It s very murky because it was traumatizing but I remember her asking why didn t you or why did you

She also didn t understand that treatment is not one size fits all. At one point she said, You aren t making any effort to improve, why don t you do what I suggest?

Every appointment I had with her I left feeling worse. I dreaded going.

She constantly questioned why I was so obedient to my mother. I m financially dependent due to mental illness and also scared of her.

After tapering off, I had one last appointment with the doctor, but the agency closed due to Covid-19. She kept checking in. Quarantine played a part in making my mental health deteriorate. I soon begged my mom to let me drop her and when she wouldn t, I went to my sister, whom my mother trusted more.

Please be careful. Many clients who go here can t speak English and don t know what good therapy is. After all, therapy is still highly stigmatized in Asian countries and not often spoken about openly. They will think this is fine.