Posted by crushedout on November 11, 2004, at 23:03:31
In reply to Re: T shopping questions for falls and others » fallsfall, posted by fallsfall on November 5, 2004, at 21:18:05
Hey falls,Was the second therapist (of which you speak below) the one you have now?
Also, if so, did you have him lined up *before* you saw your former T for the last time?
crushedout.
> After interviewing therapists on the phone, I met with 5 personally. I (because I'm anal) wrote up summaries of each session. Here are the summaries from the best and the worst:
>
> Therapist #2 was recommended by [pdoc]. His office is in [town far away].
>
> I had told him on the phone that I wanted something other than Cognitive-Behavioral. He said to come down and we would see what he could do. The only thing he suggested that wasn't Cognitive-Behavioral was EMDR. So I don't know what he was talking about on the phone. I could have gotten mad and reminded him that I told him I didn't want Cognitive-Behavioral.
>
> Other than that, I didn't get the impression that he was understanding what I was saying. He certainly didn't understand anything behind what I was saying. His pace was very slow. I felt no connection with him (the chairs were set an an angle, so it was easier not to see each other - I like them face to face better).
>
> The ice cream on the way back was old (Butter Crunch - there were marble sized lumps of ice cream and none of the Crunch was crunchy). There was nowhere to sit out of the sun.
>
> The drive back was on [busy highway] (need I say more?).
>
> I think that Therapist #2 is not going to be the victor.
>
> Therapist #3 is in [town 30 minutes away]. He was recommended by [therapist]. He does PsychoDynamic therapy (plus whatever else he needs). He has lots of experience and a really nice English accent.
>
> He didn't waste any time talking about background, he went right to the dependency issue. Bam! No fooling around here! His questions encouraged very succinct answers. When I asked him questions he gave me just enough information, but not too much. I would say the exchange was concise.
>
> He has a beeper on "most of the time" for emergencies. I asked if he thought I should see a man or a woman. He said "Get a good therapist". He would prefer to see me twice a week, at least to start, but that is negotiable depending on insurance etc. He is expensive and doesn't take my insurance (so my insurance would pay 80% of his fee).
>
> He gave me the name of a book to read: "Noon Day Demon" by Andrew Solomon.
>
> He talked about another patient of his that was dependent. As he described him I could tell that the therapist understood what I had been talking about. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I thought about [therapist].
>
> At the end he said:
> T: So, how did I do?
> me: You pretty much understood my problem. (still tears from before)
> T: Just "pretty much"?
> me: No.........
> T: More?
> me: Yes.
>
> He really did a good job. He kept the extraneous stuff out. He took my issues seriously. He made a bad deduction, and I corrected him and he kept on trucking from there. He is soft, but not mushy. His (English accented) voice is quiet, but very clear.
>
> Ice cream was at [good ice cream store] - Peppermint Stick (the other lady helped me choose between that and Milk Chocolate Almond - she picked a "2"). Yum.
>
> He is a good candidate.
>
poster:crushedout
thread:411876
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20041104/msgs/414828.html