![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:17:24
I happened to get some inside information from a male psychiatrist who does extensive therapy. (not first hand but second hand info).
Apparently he said that attachment is a big issue to him. He said that once a patient comes to therapy with him, they are always on the lookout for him for their lifetime. And he tries his best to avoid them. And that they never want to terminate, and he forces them to cut off. What kind of person will knowingly put their patients through so much of torture?
He said therapy is at best like doing a half operation and asking the patient to get off the operation table in mid-operation, just as soon as the doctor is convinced the patient would atleast survive. They never wait for the operation to be fully done or the wound to heal fully. But he said that is a fact of life.
I was little taken aback by the statement. If they know they are going to leave in mid-operation, why even do it? They know the pain an unfinished operation will cause a patient and yet they go into it knowingly? How cruel? And how can they just dismiss it as "Oh it is not my fault, that is just the way it is".
For all this, he is a very highly qualified psychiatrist and he has lots of years of therapy experience, and is apprently one of the most popular Drs in his society. It is not that he is uncapable.
Any input? So far I thought that they feel bad atleast that they sometime could not help the patient feeling bad. But apparently, they don't even feel that. And they do it fully knowingly.
What kind of person will knowingly put a person through so much of pain?
Posted by Annierose on November 15, 2005, at 9:27:50
In reply to Inside information from a psychiatrist, posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:17:24
Sounds like a terrible therapist, and one that should be avoided at all cost.
I don't think his view is necessary an accepted thought in therapy. My T is committed to working through my issues with her, for as long as it takes.
Posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:37:00
In reply to Inside information from a psychiatrist, posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:17:24
I am sorry to have generalized it. But apparently, he said it is one of the common problems psychiatrists face and they think of it this way.
And my own experience also told me that my psychiatrist didn't even feel or say sorry for the pain I was going through. And he just treated it as part of life kind of thing. So I assumed maybe everyone thinks of it in these terms.
Posted by Gee on November 15, 2005, at 13:55:56
In reply to I should have removed the generalization » orchid, posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:37:00
I thought that psychiatrist were mostly there for perscibing meds. Or that's all mine ever did. Mine didn't give me any chance to become attached, so I guess your statement makes good sense.
Maybe it is true...
Posted by rainbowbrite on November 15, 2005, at 16:05:14
In reply to Inside information from a psychiatrist, posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:17:24
maybe I am reading this how I believe he meant it...but to me it makes sense. Also I would assume he meant 'some' patients.
To me...
he is saying that he needs to push most patients towards emotional independence.
letting them go before complete recovery can only make them stronger, a patient is feeling beter adn to get all the way better they need a push, and IF that fails then he sent them off to early. The hope would be that he knows when it is the right time.
Posted by Dinah on November 15, 2005, at 20:55:32
In reply to Inside information from a psychiatrist, posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:17:24
You probably have seen on this board that there are therapists of all sorts. The attitude one therapist has about clients can't possibly be held by most or all. Someone here once quoted a therapist who said they avoided clients who "dripped transference potential". Certainly there are therapists of that type, and that one would probably share a common bond with the therapist you mention. But my therapist would not only not endorse such a sentiment, but he'd get darn angry at the damage that sort of sentiment causes him and other therapists of his clinical orientation.
Posted by LadyBug on November 16, 2005, at 10:04:46
In reply to Inside information from a psychiatrist, posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:17:24
This might be true for this guy, but I know my T. would never do this to me. We've talked about me quitting when the going has been tough and we used the quitting in the middle of surgery metaphor. This is exactly what it would be like. I'm so glad I don't have that to worry about. I believe my T. loves and cares for me and would never tell me to leave unless she could see that I was getting worse or therapy was no longer working for us.
I'd hate to think I was not cared about and just a name in an appointment book and someone else would fill my spot when she got rid of me.
Sad..
LadyBug
Posted by Susan47 on November 17, 2005, at 11:34:55
In reply to I should have removed the generalization » orchid, posted by orchid on November 15, 2005, at 9:37:00
Your psychiatrist, in my experience of them from this side of the bench, is likely telling the truth. My ex-T and some of the men and women I've seen in therapy are like this. They have the capability to shut down. And I've always suspected the truth of what your doctor says. I developed an attachment to my ex-T and it felt extremely unhealthy. And because of my attachment and my inability to handle it, he threw me out. In reality I know it's damaged me beyond measure and it's taken a couple of years of my life to try and recover, and I wonder if I would've been better off just being dysfunctional without submitting myself to the embarrassment and humiliation of needing a person who was unable to love me. Because I feel like I'll always look for him and I actually went halfway around the world against my will just to get away from the bad feelings and the horrible situation I was in. And the fact is that whether he cares less or not, it makes absolutely no difference to me because my life has nothing to do with his life and his has ... well you get the picture. Your psych is right. It's like cutting an operation off before the patient's been sewn up, or stapled, and having him get off the table and his guts falling out, spilling all over the place; and the patient actually has to walk on his own entrails for the rest of his life, Because He Has No Way Of Stapling or Sewing Himself Back Up. IT WAS THE DOCTOR'S JOB AND HE DIDN'T DO IT....HE CUT THE PATIENT OPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
If your psychiatrist is the norm and they're mostly like this, then those people are irresponsible IMO and I would stay away from a therapist or a psychiatrist like him.
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.