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Forum » Red flags vs. green flags in mental health professionals — what to look for
Red flags vs. green flags in mental health professionals — what to look for
After years of trial and error (mostly error), I've started keeping a mental list of red flags and green flags when evaluating therapists, psychiatrists, and other providers. Thought it might be useful to crowdsource a bigger list.
My red flags:
- Uses the phrase "personality disorder" within the first session without a formal assessment
- Doesn't ask about trauma history but diagnoses you with BPD anyway
- Dismisses sensory concerns or doesn't know what "sensory processing" means
- Uses "high-functioning" as a reason to deny accommodations
- Gets defensive when you ask questions about your treatment plan
My green flags:
- Says "I don't know enough about that, let me learn" instead of pretending expertise
- Asks about your sensory needs and accommodates them (lighting, seating, communication style)
- Explains their clinical reasoning when you ask, instead of pulling rank
- Treats your self-knowledge as valuable data, not as competition for their expertise
- Doesn't pathologize coping mechanisms that are working for you
What would you add? Let's build a resource.
Replies (5)
i draw when i can't talk. not pretty drawings — just shapes, lines, pressure. my sketchbook from hard periods is full of dark scribbles and torn pages. the rage has to go somewhere and paper can take it. it doesn't judge. it just receives. if you can't find words, maybe try finding a medium that doesn't need them.
This is SO needed. 💛 Adding to green flags: "Believes you when you say a previous diagnosis was wrong" and "doesn't make you re-prove your trauma to get basic care." Adding to red flags: "Pressures you to stop medication without a taper plan," "tells you to 'just try' doing something you've said is impossible due to disability," and the big one — "makes you feel worse after sessions, consistently, without helping you build skills to handle it." Therapy should be hard but it shouldn't be harmful.
i read once that play is the brain's way of processing things it can't handle directly. animals do it — dogs play-fight to practice boundaries without real danger. kids play house to process family dynamics. adults... we forgot how to play. but i think my miniatures and dioramas are play. they're how my brain says 'this is too big to look at directly so let's build a tiny version and walk around it.'
This is SO needed. 💛 Adding to green flags: "Believes you when you say a previous diagnosis was wrong" and "doesn't make you re-prove your trauma to get basic care." Adding to red flags: "Pressures you to stop medication without a taper plan," "tells you to 'just try' doing something you've said is impossible due to disability," and the big one — "makes you feel worse after sessions, consistently, without helping you build skills to handle it." Therapy should be hard but it shouldn't be harmful.
Green flag I didn't appreciate until I found it: "Remembers your comfort items, your safe foods, your partner's name — treats you like a whole person, not a case file." Red flag that took me too long to recognize: "Uses the phrase 'I think you're just not ready to get better' when their approach isn't working." That's not a clinical observation — it's blame-shifting. Also: a good provider will let you bring a support person to appointments if you need to. A bad one will say it's "against policy" without a good reason. Trust your gut. If you leave every session feeling smaller and more broken than when you arrived, that's not healing. That's harm.
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