pilgrim primitive's therapist throws in the towel

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=276x10644

Oh my.

The "backstory" on this is that the pilgrim primitive went nuts, and was in a psychiatric ward (voluntarily) over the 4th of July holiday.

I think the pilgrim primitive is a college professor, but I might be wrong.

HereSince1628  (1000+ posts)        Tue Jul-27-10 03:32 PM
THE PILGRIM PRIMITIVE
Original message

My therapist threw in the towel 2 hrs ago.

Another psychologist caves in to the demands of Borderline, after 27 sessions maybe half of which were talking about talking about how we were going to use talking in her 'eclectic' approach.

Apparently, her supervisor's review of my 'case' to get approval of her letter documenting my problems resulted in the realization that 'we' were getting no where.

No replacement in sight. It sure feels like being abandoned...again.

Tobin S.  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jul-27-10 04:15 PM
THE DROOPY DRAWERS PRIMITIVE
Response to Original message

1. I'm going to tell you something that is probably not politically correct

I've been through 3 talk therapists and none of them have helped make any lasting change in me. I take meds and they work well for me. I don't even bother with the talk therapy anymore.

I guess talk therapy works for some people, but I'm not one of them. You may not be either. I'm not saying you shouldn't try, but I'd invest more stock in your psychiatrist.

HereSince1628  (1000+ posts)        Tue Jul-27-10 07:52 PM
THE PILGRIM PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #1

2. It is idosyncratic

Everyone has their own experience and each has his/her own perceptions of said experience...

A month and a half ago, just before I got bad enough for in-patient care, the psychiatrist I was assigned to told me to get out of his medical center. That was the day I posted in this forum about being unhappy being told that"being here" was a good outcome for me, that post was made while I was upset, but not yet in full flame.

I'd seen him just 4 times, summing to less than an hour and fifteen minutes. I'll never see him again. I believe that he was trying to be clever and use a confrontational approach, to my lamentation that if things were progressing with my psychologist they were doing so a glacial pace and that the SSRI he had me on was making me careless/laxidasical (sp?) about my diabetes and heart-healthy diet, weight, exercise, etc.

In hindsight, I believe that he was messing with that technique because he adamently told me how I was thinking and feeling, even when I objected to his choice of adjectives and because it is a widely held assumption that psychiatric clinicians aren't capable of mind reading. Consequently, it's something that they almost never pretend to do and it's unusual when one of them does. I suppose he was trying to get me to object to his characterization and thereby admit I was getting something out of therapy.

Unfortunately, that episode triggered a constellation of my borderline problems. My response began with splitting him off into a deep personal adversary (a phenomenon that I know is a symptom of my borderline, but feelings are feelings and I doubt I'll invest energy to overcome that one--so I'll never have a session with him again), and my flare escalated the remainder of the day into aching sense of abandonment and in the evening turned into a bout of binge drinking for sedation and an end to that day's misery. All in all, my interaction with him initiated one of my worst days in 2009.

He was clever in associating my affect with an intervention, but probably too reckless by 3 or 4 times.

Tobin S.  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jul-27-10 08:27 PM
THE DROOPY DRAWERS PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #2

3. My psychiatrist doesn't try to analyze me

If I gave him $200 an hour he would, but as it is I just go in for 15 minutes once every three months. He asks me how I've been and if I've been symptomatic. I always answer no, which isn't quite always the reality, but the meds work so good about 98% of the time that I don't want to fool with him making any adjustments. He writes me a prescription for the next three months worth of meds and I do blood work 4 times a year.

So, that's where I was coming from. But I know how difficult it can be getting the proper treatment and the right meds at the right dosages and everyone is different. I hope you find the right combination of treatments for you.

[Carl]

I am convinced that the only ones on the island at this point who are not mentally disturbed are moles.

[BlueStateSaint]

I am convinced that the only ones on the island at this point who are not mentally disturbed are moles.

And they have to act that way to fit in.