Posted by Dinah on February 18, 2008, at 10:17:22
In reply to Re: Therapy - Bang for the Buck? » Hermitian, posted by MissK on February 18, 2008, at 8:45:33
> Therapy can be as much a want as a need. I think there are those that want it as a part of their life for a long time.
I have been taking several medications for a long time. I imagine I'll take them for a long time more. Are they a want rather than a need? Should I stop taking my migraine prophylaxis? I take it even when I don't have a migraine.
My therapist and I, have discussed this topic at enormous length and excruciating detail. And to me, what we have concluded is the important thing. Since others have little access to the information that my therapist and I have. Nor do I wish to make that access more widely available. My general assumption is that I have as little access to the information that would be pertinent to the decision for others as they do for me.
But on the other hand, if I can't accept that there were *always* be people who find my choices incomprehensible or worse, while being clear on who I am and that my decision is right for me, then my years of therapy won't have been much benefit to me.
It does occur to me that from a pragmatic viewpoint it is unlikely that negative statements about long term therapy will do anything but harden the hearts of those in long term therapy. And that a more efficacious response might be to extol the virtues of focused short term or medium therapy. Or to talk about how one is looking forward to termination and to moving on in life. Or to talk about how goals are being met, and contributing to overall wellbeing and the eventual end of therapy, which is one's overall goal.
After all, few people are likely to say "My god, you're right! I've been a bloody fool. I shall go immediately and fire my therapist of fifty years, because no one else has ever pointed out with such eloquence the folly of my going to therapy for fifty years!"
One may be rather more likely to consider that fifty years of therapy has shown more benefits than one has otherwise considered.
How much more persuasive (or at least it seems to me) it would be to tell of the wonderful benefits of being in medium or short term therapy. To show by example and by words that medium or short term therapy is clearly enormously beneficial. That medium or short term therapy helps people gain wisdom and compassion and resilience and tolerance, or whatever all the many qualities that help with mental health might be, as exemplified by medium or short term focused therapy.
Or so says my pragmatic soul. And my thirteen years of therapy.
But I could be all wrong. Perhaps people are equally persuaded by statements that people are wasting their money with therapists who are only out for a buck and are totally irresponsible at allowing open ended therapy, and that such therapy may feel good but is not a need but a want. But that people are certainly entitled to spend their money to feel good once a week while other areas of their lives languish. If I am understanding the arguments correctly... Which I fully admit I may not be. Perhaps certain phrases are catching my attention and drawing it away from the overall point.
In which case I proffer my apologies for my misunderstanding.
I was about to start a post to you yesterday, Miss K. Telling you that you reminded me of me in many ways, in that we both seem to be quite pragmatic. And expressing a gladness to get the chance to talk to you on Babble. So I'll just include that here. :)
poster:Dinah
thread:813285
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20080210/msgs/813415.html