Specialty Behavioral Health

Dr Jim Carter of Specialty Behavioral Health in La Jolla, CA:
People have described his behavior as both «icy-​cold» and «wishy-​washy».
There are plenty of great therapists out there, don’t waste your time with this one.
If you’d like details read on, if not — please just be cautious about entrusting Dr. Carter with your healthcare. He did not seem to have my best interests at heart and his actions have caused my quality of life to rapidly decline.
I saw Jim Carter for almost 2 years. Looking back, I think he might have used me for his own emotional support and needs. He would tend to talk and complain about his life and issues he was facing. He told me about his moody wife and her health issues, sleepless nights, feelings about his family, marriage, baby, annoying neighbors, etc. He would tell me his fantasies of escaping and his fears of aging. Where he wanted to go and what he wished he could do with his life. He’d tell me many stories — and I loved them! He told me that one day I might be able to meet his son. I felt especially close to him and was beginning to open up, let him in and trust him. He’d say things that led me to heavily depend on him because they made me feel so secure and safe. He said if I broke up with my boyfriend I wouldn’t be alone because he would still be there for me, even if my boyfriend wasn’t. He said he was committed to me and that he wasn’t about to leave (a big fear of mine at first). He promised he would see me for as long as it would take, and he even saw me for free. Our relationship was giving me real meaning and it was a big motivator for me to change — I was leaving the house more often, applying for jobs, and trying so hard to open up more and continue in my treatment. I felt like I finally had hope! He offered me a lot of support, and it was helping me — or I thought it was, but now I think it was too much as it led me to a much worse place.
He ended up abandoning me while I was in the middle of a crisis. It completely took me by surprise — I didn’t expect him to quit — he had led me to believe he would be there for years to come. His rationale was that I broke our contract/​agreement (which is incorrect; he’s since agreed that we didn’t have one), that he wasn’t a competent therapist (but I was showing improvement in some areas of my life), and that continued contact with him would be harmful for me (also incorrect — he had been giving me so much meaning, that what ended up being more harmful was the sudden discontinuation of my treatment and of contact with him). He didn’t provide any pretermination counseling or chance for closure. I wish he’d at least done that out of respect for me. But also because of how long I had been seeing him, how close we were, and the things he had promised.
It’s now been four months and I still have mixed feelings. While Jim did make me feel special and important to him, maybe he shouldn’t have done that! I really valued our relationship and relied on him so I can’t help but feel deceived and hurt by how he abruptly left, especially after reassuring me he would be there and after helping me through a lot. But I also worry that I may have accidentally contributed to this myself for not showing him more gratitude or giving him enough feedback about his methods that were helping me. Ultimately, I think he should have thought things out more carefully, especially in regards to how he terminated me. I also think he could have approached my treatment more collaboratively, and felt that much of the time we were focusing on other issues (his life) rather than helping me. He has admitted to making multiple other mistakes with me, too and told me I can file a complaint if I think he was unethical. I’m not sure what I’ll do. I feel very alone and am doing worse now than before I started seeing him.
I think a skilled therapist would have known to be more careful, especially with the things he was saying and the lines that were blurred. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to put my trust in someone else after this experience. It’s caused me a lot of harm and I’ve lost a lot of hope.