![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by smokeymadison on January 28, 2005, at 20:44:42
i feel like i am asking for special treatment and favors. i have to go to the local crisis center for therapy b/c i can't afford my copays and the county picks up the copay if i go there. i saw a therapist twice there a couple of months ago and didn't like her at all. then i was hospitalized twice. now i am out and need a therapist. but i don't want her again. so i am demanding to talk witht the director about switching therapists. i know logically that this is not unreasonable, but the secretary at the crisis center is acting like it is. they are giving me a hard time and no one has called me back and it has been two days now. i wonder if the director even got the message. it took forever to get his name. they didn't want to tell me.
i am coming from the angle that b/c i have BPD that i need DBT. and i know that the therapist i saw doesn't know DBT. i am asking that i see somebody who does.
i know i shouldn't feel bad, but i do.
SM
Posted by Susan47 on January 28, 2005, at 21:22:09
In reply to i feel like i am being an *ss, posted by smokeymadison on January 28, 2005, at 20:44:42
You have every right to demand the best mental health care you can get, no matter WHAT your financial situation and it is the JOB of those people to help you. AND IMO they are using the fact that you're having trouble right now in order to make you feel worse and they just want you to go away and lie down, that's a good boy/girl.
Don't take it.
Posted by Speaker on January 28, 2005, at 21:22:32
In reply to i feel like i am being an *ss, posted by smokeymadison on January 28, 2005, at 20:44:42
I'm sorry you are having such a hard time getting good help. It is difficult to be patient when they act like you are a problem...but it is their job and thats what they are there for. If you don't hear from them I would write the director directly. Take care of yourself!
Posted by mair on January 29, 2005, at 6:04:38
In reply to Re: i feel like i am being an *ss, posted by Speaker on January 28, 2005, at 21:22:32
I'd write the director directly anyway, not in an outraged, demanding sort of way but just persuasive as to why you need a new therapist. Point out to him that it hardly does either the clinic or you any good if you end up with someone you can't work with.
Good Luck
Mair
Posted by Dinah on January 29, 2005, at 13:01:43
In reply to i feel like i am being an *ss, posted by smokeymadison on January 28, 2005, at 20:44:42
I don't think your less entitled to adequate treatment just because you're not paying cash. And your request is being framed in a highly reasonable way.
Don't feel guilty. That's not special treatment or favors. That's basic treatment that everyone deserves.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 29, 2005, at 19:49:01
In reply to i feel like i am being an *ss, posted by smokeymadison on January 28, 2005, at 20:44:42
Then that makes me an *ss too! I got DBT because I demanded they give it to me. The beauty of your situation is that the more you act up, the more apparant it becomes to them that you really do need DBT! Ha! I just love those win-win borderline dilemmas, they are so much nicer than the lose-lose variety! This is a rare occasion of the win-win variety.
Forget about the 'special treatment and favors' angle. You are attempting to get adequate treatment. In fact, because you have to fight to get it you are showing them how much you really want this. Don't worry about the 'not being able to afford it' angle either. I have never paid for therapy. Fact is that I can't afford it. I don't feel bad about that because it is not my fault. But that doesn't mean I will put up with crap (ahem, people unsuited to working with me). And when there is an option between this or that treatment then I fight to get the one I believe will help me the most, ahem, I mean be the most cost effective for them at the end of the day.
Fact is that DBT outperforms other treatments. Fact is that they will save money on hospitalisations and crisis services if they give you adequate treatment. And that should be something that they think about. Of course the advantage to you is improved functioning and alleviation of distress, but people prefer to reflect on what they get out of it personally. And you are dealing with a money conscious system.
I dare say that it is in the secretaries job description to be a bitch. To put off people who will be put off. Don't worry too much about her, she doesn't make the decision. She is just your point of liason with the director. Directors have PA's to put as many people off as possible. They are busy people. They don't want to deal with stuff / clients they can avoid. Don't be put off by this. Once you get through then they will know you are serious.
>no one has called me back and it has been two days now. i wonder if the director even got the message. it took forever to get his name. they didn't want to tell me.
Ring again. If they say he will get back to you ask when you may expect to hear from him by. Ask them how long they think is reasonable to wait. Then you can call him back with no guilts if you do not hear from him by then. You are allowed to be persistent. In fact you will have to be persistent most likely. Pester. Annoy them until they realise that the only way that they are going to be able to get rid of you is if they let you talk to him or get an appointment to see him.
This is one of the oh so few situations where acting out a little can actually help your case... Of course that being said it can be done without that if you are prepared to be persistant. I applied for DBT and then found myself in the control group. 'Treatment as usual'. 'Treatment as usual' turned out to be no treatment because CMH told me that DBT was my only option. I packed a wobbly. Wrote the experimentors and told them that if CMH was refusing to treat the 'treatment as usual' control group then they were not comparing DBT with 'treatment as usual' they were comparing it with no treatment. That means that they weren't testing what they said they were, and running the control group was unethical.
They ditched the control group and I got DBT :-)
After many many fits.> i am coming from the angle that b/c i have BPD that i need DBT. and i know that the therapist i saw doesn't know DBT. i am asking that i see somebody who does.
Fair enough! Especially if they have that available.
Ok. Now I might be getting up in arms a little too soon...
I am just trying to prepare you for a possible worst case scenario...
Trying to get you into the spirit of it...
1st step: ring them back.
Posted by smokeymadison on January 30, 2005, at 16:09:36
In reply to i feel like i am being an *ss, posted by smokeymadison on January 28, 2005, at 20:44:42
i got through to the director's voice mail and left a message explaining the situation and asked him to call me tomorrow. thanks for all your support, i don't feel bad anymore about what i am trying to do. i just let the secretary get to me a little too much, i think.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 30, 2005, at 19:56:52
In reply to Re: i am getting somewhere, posted by smokeymadison on January 30, 2005, at 16:09:36
> i got through to the director's voice mail and left a message explaining the situation and asked him to call me tomorrow. thanks for all your support, i don't feel bad anymore about what i am trying to do. i just let the secretary get to me a little too much, i think.
Yay! Don't forget to call him back in 2 days if he doesn't get back to you...
Posted by Susan47 on February 2, 2005, at 0:48:11
In reply to Re: i am getting somewhere » smokeymadison, posted by alexandra_k on January 30, 2005, at 19:56:52
Posted by smokeymadison on February 6, 2005, at 1:01:51
In reply to Re: i am getting somewhere, posted by smokeymadison on January 30, 2005, at 16:09:36
i stopped by the community counseling and crisis center and spoke to the director about finding a therapist there who knows DBT and has a direct approach, since that is really what i need. he said that no one there knows DBT but there is a lady who has a very direct approach he will ask to take my case. if she can't, i will be placed on a waiting list to see her. i can't take much more of this. i need to see a therapist pronto. i haven't been in therapy for almost a year now. if i can save up to buy a new car then i might be able to go to another agency outside of the city where i live and see a therapist for free at another agency like the one here. but that will take at least two months. i feel like i am drowning here. i don't want to go back to the hospital again. i have been there four times since Nov. i am holding on for now...
SM
Posted by gardenergirl on February 6, 2005, at 15:51:34
In reply to spoke to director face to face, posted by smokeymadison on February 6, 2005, at 1:01:51
good for you for taking this into your own hands. I'm so glad you were assertive. It sounds like he took your request seriously. I sure hope this T will be able to take you right away.
Hang in there,
gg
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Psychology | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.