Some concepts in psychology are very difficult to explain. Part of the reason is that some concepts apply to one individual, but not to another. One of the challenges of being a shrink, is being patient enough to figure it out. Another thing is, that when you see a new patient, you never know for sure how long they will stick around.
What if the first session is the only session? Do you want to work to make it maximally therapeutic? But will that cause them to only come in for one session?
I find that as a shrink I have to pay attention to what I’m thinking and feeling and what I’m saying to a patient. If I find myself trying to convince a patient to stay in treatment for the long-term, I’ve very liked picked up on, an unconscious level, that they may well not stay in treatment. So far, every time I’ve noticed myself doing this, the patient doesn’t stay in treatment for very long.
They seem to stay a little longer if I point this fact out when I notice myself doing this, and we analyze their historical patterns for sticking with things. But still, it often ends up being a short-term treatment, when I think it really needs to be a longer term treatment. Perhaps, with time, I will figure out how to address these patterns in such a way that these folks stay in treatment.
As some examples, I’ve worked with a number of folks who have only seen a ‘therapist’ (I hate that term), for one to three sessions. Often they’ve seen several therapists for this many sessions. When I encounter this, I try to analyze the reasons why this occurs with the patient. Often, my experience is that that will stay two to four times longer in treatment with me, but then they drop out.
This is difficult for a shrink (or me), because I want to see good outcomes in every case. But this field teaches me on a daily basis to know my limits, and to strive for more understanding. So, while I strive to help my patients change their life patterns, I try to improve the patterns that I have with my patients. In the end, I am human, and make mistakes on a daily basis. Unfortunately, that is part of the human condition. All I can do, and you can do, is to work to see what mistakes have been made in the past, and work to prevent them from occurring again in the future.
7 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 16, 2008 at 2:44 am
catherine
Why do you prefer shrink over therapist?
October 16, 2008 at 8:09 pm
thecountryshrink
Catherine, I think it is partly philosophical and partly emotional. Philosophically, I view my role as working to ’shrink’ the impact of an individual’s emotional difficulties on their lives. It is partly emotional on my part, in that I have known many folks who call themselves ‘therapists,’ who don’t seem to believe in their patients and don’t seem to help them much. So, I call myself a term that is somewhat unusual, in some hope that the help I provide will also be somewhat ‘unusual.’ Not unusual in that it is weird, per se, but in the hope it will be more than most expect. I don’t know if it is really true, but that’s what I strive for.
October 17, 2008 at 4:40 pm
catherine
Ah, so you are reclaiming the term and changing the connotations. That makes sense.
Myself, I prefer therapist.
October 17, 2008 at 6:21 pm
thecountryshrink
Just don’t call me that!! I cringe inside whenever that happens.
October 17, 2008 at 9:26 pm
catherine
What,
Humperdincktherapist? =POctober 20, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Georgia Girl
I think your insight is amazing and reads like a breeze. I commented on your “repressed memories” article a few months ago. Thanks for your reply, which I didn’t see until a few days ago.
Please do more on repressed memories?
Now if I can remember how to link your site to my blog …
October 20, 2008 at 5:18 pm
thecountryshrink
Thanks Georgia Girl. I will do more on repressed memories soon. Thank you for prompting me to do so.