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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by pinkeye on July 3, 2005, at 0:06:23
(obviously you can see I am bored) Just wondering, are therapists happy people?? If they teach us all these things, would they have first tried it on themselves??
Posted by rubenstein on July 3, 2005, at 10:38:35
In reply to Are therapists happy persons themselves??, posted by pinkeye on July 3, 2005, at 0:06:23
I think they have gone on the journey to find it, know that happiness is elusive at times, and that life is about being in the moment, savoring those times of happiness, and helping those around us find those moments...
but that is just my opinion, and I definetly know my therapist is happier than I am.
rachel
Posted by Dinah on July 3, 2005, at 13:55:34
In reply to Are therapists happy persons themselves??, posted by pinkeye on July 3, 2005, at 0:06:23
I think I believe in the happiness set point that recent studies have pointed to.
I doubt being a therapist could raise that set point, but it may be that optimistic and happy people are drawn to clinical psychology. Or maybe not.
I don't think my therapist is significantly happier than I am. A good deal more phlegmatic, which is why he's a good therapist for me, a lot more tolerant of other people's foibles, which is why he's a good therapist, but not necessarily "happy". Come to think of it, a therapist who was too happy wouldn't suit me at all.
Posted by alexandra_k on July 3, 2005, at 15:57:27
In reply to Are therapists happy persons themselves??, posted by pinkeye on July 3, 2005, at 0:06:23
I think different people become therapists for different reasons.
Some people are on a mission to find out what is wrong with themselves.
Other people want a good job and studied psychology and so therapy is a fairly logical choice.
Other people want to help people with mental illness.
Other people kind of like the idea and it might be something of a power trip.
Who knows. I have known a whole heap of different people to be drawn to it.
And with respect to happiness...
I have known people to be better and worse and much the same.
Posted by alexandra_k on July 3, 2005, at 18:22:56
In reply to Re: Are therapists happy persons themselves??, posted by alexandra_k on July 3, 2005, at 15:57:27
Though with respect to happiness:
> I have known people to be better and worse and much the same.
I really should qualify the 'worse and much the same'. I guess it depends on what you mean by happiness. You wouldn't expect a t to be plagued by the effects of mental illness quite the way that we are. Or at least... Not so very much of the time.
You would expect them to be a bit better at seeing their own way out and using the techniques they try and teach us in their own lives. Presumably their lives are the better for that - which is why they are trying to teach us those techniques. Or at least I'd be very suspicious of someone who didn't benefit from them thinking that I would benefit from them (unless their experience really was very different from mine)..
Just rambelling now, really...
This is the end of the thread.
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