Quote Originally Posted by Mith View Post
I guess my perspective is that the concept of "getting an objective second opinion" should be easily done. In the age of digital communication, I don't know why it cannot be possible to:

1) file a complaint with the relevant body

2) get an independent review from another specialist that can at least inform where there may be issues.

3) If there are signs of issues with the practitioner, call them in for a hearing.

I don't know if it is too risky to use a confidential clause and a recording device for such records that can be accessed as a "third party" to break the power imbalance of "professional vs. Client".
A lot of the problem is ensuring an objective independent review. It's a fairly common complaint that practitioners tend to be biased in favor of prior diagnosis. And the nature of mental health treatment means they're already on the lookout for people who don't think anything's wrong or don't understand. In fact that's one of the major worries a lot of people have about misdiagnosis, that further treating professionals tend to assume the diagnosis is correct, and symptoms are often vague enough that someone looking for confirmation can find it. An independent review won't help if the reviewer is going in with the idea that it's probably nothing.

That's actually been part of my complaint - that when you see someone else and report an issue with another professional, the default assumption seems to be that there's something wrong with you that's making you say that.