Posted by fallsfall on November 5, 2004, at 21:18:05
In reply to Re: T shopping questions for falls and others, posted by fallsfall on November 5, 2004, at 20:56:44
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:fallsfall
thread:411876
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20041104/msgs/412388.html