There are many reasons why testimonials should not be used by legitimate therapists.
My governing body does not permit the use of testimonials, so that client confidentiality can be maintained at all times.
Testimonials:
1. Can be easily fabricated.
2. Are considered unethical by many therapy related bodies (particularly the UK Council for Psychotherapy)
3. The Advertising Standards Authority require any testimonial to be verifiable and that would conflict with the confidentiality I offer my clients.
4. As a society we are getting used to sites such as Tripadvisor, but the difference is that those reviews are independent. On a practitioner’s site, they are responsible for the content and would naturally only put up good reviews.
A good, well trained therapist will have a wide range of approaches that they use to match to each particular client’s needs. Therapy is not like buying a toaster, and one person’s experience is unlikely to match your own, so reading other peoples’ experiences may be misleading rather than helpful.
