Posted by Peter on October 29, 2002, at 18:26:51
In reply to Re: OVERWHELMED!!, posted by JonW on October 29, 2002, at 15:16:17
> LOL! Same guy, what a coincidence! :)
> Wow! That's hilarious!
> If you have never seen Dr. Liebowitz, I would recommend you schedule a consultation with him just to get his opinion. Dr. Hurowitz is a professional and shouldn't be offended by this in the least.
> The only hesitation I have with doing that is that if I decide to get a 3rd opinion, I'd prefer this time to go to someone completely outside of the 'Klein, Liebowitz, Hurowitz' circle-to get a totally unbiased opinion.
> I've had some bad experiences with therapists, too. One guy I went to see once told me he could levitate a chair with his mind! I told him I'd come back if he could demonstrate that... needless to say, I never went back :) I really think you should consider seeing the therapist there, though (Carla Daichman). I have severe social phobia and atypical depression, and may fall in the bipolar spectrum. Working with the therapist along with Dr. Liebowitz has been very helpful. CBT + the right medication is more effective than either alone. It can bring you much closer to remission than either alone. My initial impression of the therapist was not very good, but that was mostly the result of my bias. I was so focused on medication and I took therapy as an insult to my intelligence. The truth is I was closed minded. If you're anything like me, I recommend giving it a few appointments. If you don't like her, have Dr. Liebowitz or Dr. Hurowitz find you someone else.
> I was going to a therapist for a few years until 2000, when I began to feel that the work we were doing was too intrusive-I mean, we all need SOME of our ego-defense mechanisms still intact! Everything was so deep and vague, trying to prod into all the layers of my sunconscience and blame all my problems on my upbringing. If I opt for another go at therapy, it would definitely be of the non-psychodynamic sort; something more constructive and practical-is this what CBT is like? I know the basic principles behind CBT, but I never really understood it; what does a typical session entail?
> The other benefit to seeing a therapist is that they are typically more personable than pdocs and can provide you with the emotional support you may not get from your pdoc. My experience with researchers is that they're not the most personable people, but Dr. Liebowitz is somewhat of an exception. In addition to being good, he really does care and that's what makes him different. I do wish he were a little more like my therapist sometimes, but between the two of them it's the perfect combination. It's taken some time to get to know Dr. Liebowitz, and in the beginning I misinterpreted how quick and exact he was as being cold and uncaring. Now I get along with him very well and respect how good he really is. We even joke together and talk about unrelated things sometimes. He's very open to my input. He's willing to discuss anything.
> That's great. It's actually what Dr. Hurowitz is like also. We joke around a lot, but he's highly professional and everyone, including Dr. Klein, etc, regards him as a great doctor. I don't know-maybe it would be ok to stick with him, but also go to the therapist he works with. Maybe the issue here is not so much that I don't have the right pdoc as it is that I don't have that other, emotionally supportive element that you said comes with this type of therapy.
You might want to search the archives here and find others opinions of Dr. Liebowitz. When I asked for others opinions of him I got nothing but positive responses, in fact, one person compared him to a god. I think that's overstating it, but I certainly do recommend him. Anyway, think about it... and who knows, we may be in the waiting room together sometime and not even know it :)
> Yeah, and I might end up going to the same therapist too!LOL
> Good Luck,
> Jon
>Thanks for everything,.
Peter
poster:Peter
thread:125636
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021025/msgs/125710.html