Posted by Medusa on October 30, 2003, at 2:35:07
In reply to Re: Perfect Therapy Patient Club, posted by fallsfall on October 29, 2003, at 21:34:22
> Being on time - What does too early or too late mean?
>Late could be wanting special attention / exceptions to the limitations on the therapist's time, wanting to be at a higher priority level than other patients (or the therapist).
How early? An hour early might mean anxiety about getting there on time. Camping overnight might mean something else. Especially if you camp under the therapist's car.
> Dressing for the visit: Do you think about it? >If so, what does that mean?Oh yeah. I try not to repeat too much, but I never had a lot of clothes. Weekly "talk therapy" is tough in this respect. Systemic therapy is less frequent, but I still wore the same top for both of the two sessions I've so far had with current therapist. Someone in her team is sure to have noticed, because they view the videos of the sessions together afterwards. I could have fun with this ...
I don't think that most therapists really notice. Once I accidentally had a plaid scarf and a plaid bag (different plaids) and the therapist remarked "that's a lot of plaid". Well stfu lady that was not a productive comment.
New question: what does the therapist's attire mean?
>What foods are we endorsing for post-therapy consolation: (I vote for cream of wheat :)!
Protein. A big juicy hamburger with toppings to suit the mood is ideal.
> How many times is sneaking a glance at the clock or your watch allowable per session?Keep the clock in view and a constant eye on it.
> What about note taking?No, because I prefer :
> taping the sessions
This was very useful when writing a complaint letter to a screwy systems therapist who tried to take me out of the queue for the sessions I'm now in. I played parts of the cassette for the lawyer (okay, a personal friend who's a lawyer) who helped me write the letter. HA HA HA, GOTCHA you idiot! Then I faxed the letter to the institute several days before she would be there. It contained detailed descriptions of a few personal mistakes she'd made, including exact quotes. And she knew I'd taped the session.
> How often is it "OK" to call your therapist,Only when one knows for sure that only an answering machine will pick up, and leave specific availability info so the shrink can call back.
I never called a talk therapist. I first called a therapist when I saw a systems person ... left a message with one specific question about the homework she'd assigned, and she called back and basically gave me 40 minutes therapy / constructive explanation on the phone. Her sessions were expensive enough that I didn't mind. She also gave me her home number and said I could always call between noon and two.
> Does your therapist ever make mistakes? What was the worst one? Did you tell them?
>Oh, sure. I've had too many therapists, maybe I should go through and add a "worst mistake" column to my Ho-list, and have a line-up of each one's worst mistake.
I'd buy tickets to a dog-and-pony show featuring the therapists I've been through ...
New question: when you've told the therapist about her/his mistakes, how have they responded? What's the Perfect Therapist response?
> Are you jealous of their other clients?No, only irked when the therapist expects me to understand them running over because they're "complicated" or "in more pain" or something. My time is just as valuable as their's is!
> Have you searched on the internet for them (my personal favorite)? Driven past their house? Do you know what kind of car they drive? Do you know the car's license number?
>Wow, this is very committed. I should do this more - once I had a consultation with a psychiatry professor, and had I looked her up beforehand, I'd have known what books she'd written, and could have gotten lots more from the session. She referred me to a TOTAL dud therapist.
> What DO they want from us???????
>Money, honey. Especially if they hear that a family business is involved, they wanna piece o' the action. Maybe that's more true in this economy. I dunno what's with regular therapists wanting this - there are therapists and consultants who are specialists in family business and have written books and done lots of research, so why does Joe/Jane Shrink think anyone would be dumb enough to engage her/him?
For talk therapists who are paid by insurance, they just want to get through their day and have none of their patients die or pull anything weird that would require extra effort from the therapist.
New question: what about therapy in a non-native language - for either you or the therapist?
New question: for other therapy HOs, what patterns have you noticed/reactions have you gotten from many, most or all of your therapists?
poster:Medusa
thread:274661
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20031011/msgs/274894.html