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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by vwoolf on September 11, 2010, at 2:09:14
Dr Bob arrived yesterday and we had dinner together with some friends and a colleague of his. You're right, Dinah, he's really nice, and very kind. Sort of redeems the profession. Today is a spectacular day and we're going to climb to the top of the mountain - I'm sure he'll put some photographs up for all to see.
Posted by Dinah on September 11, 2010, at 7:56:01
In reply to Dinner with Dr Bob, posted by vwoolf on September 11, 2010, at 2:09:14
That's great! I'm glad you two were able to arrange something. Climbing a mountain sounds fun.
Posted by Deneb on September 11, 2010, at 12:19:22
In reply to Dinner with Dr Bob, posted by vwoolf on September 11, 2010, at 2:09:14
Cool! I'm glad you had a good time! Dr. Bob is a fun guy. :-)
P.S. I don't feel jealous at all, I am genuinely happy for you! I'm glad other people can see what a great guy he is. :-)
Posted by Dinah on September 14, 2010, at 7:37:21
In reply to Dinner with Dr Bob, posted by vwoolf on September 11, 2010, at 2:09:14
Posted by vwoolf on September 14, 2010, at 10:22:15
In reply to How was mountain climbing? (nm) » vwoolf, posted by Dinah on September 14, 2010, at 7:37:21
Sorry, I should have written sooner, just been overwhelmed with other things since.
Anyway, it was a bit of an adventure. A small group of us decided to climb up the mountain, have a picnic lunch on top and then take the cable car down in the afternoon. We set off at about 10 am. I'm not sure how it happened, but we missed the path and had to walk miles to find the next one, which was very steep and nearly killed me. I'm not sure why I found it so tiring - I am quite fit and walk on the mountain every weekend, but I really struggled this time. Dr Bob was like a mountain goat skipping up the path and taking millions of photographs. We only got to the top at about 2 pm. We had our picnic looking out over the Atlantic and the Indian oceans, and then set off to get all the way back to the cable station across the top of the mountain. However I had forgotten that the mountain looks flat on top but really isn't - it climbs up and down, and up and down. We walked and talked and it was beautiful and we stopped often to admire the spring flowers etc. and the afternoon wore on and we got tireder and tireder.
At about 5.45 we started to hear a siren sounding from the cable station and realised that this was going to be the last car down for the night. We raced on but there were still several steep slopes to climb with chains and things to make them more complicated, and I had started to panic thinking we would have to spend the night on the mountain. Luckily they must have seen us arriving because they held it up for us and we staggered on board at about 6.30. The other passengers did not look amused, but we giggled all the way down.
It was a lovely day but quite exhausting - for me at least. Then, as we were driving back to his hotel, the sun dipped below the horizon over the Atlantic and we saw an an amazing green flash in the sky just above where the sun had been. I have never seen one before although I have read about them often. We all felt quite breathless at the beauty and wonder of it.
Since then Dr Bob has been busy with the congress. We may meet again to go to a centre for mothers and children affected by HIV/AIDS that I am involved with but it is not certain whether he will have time.
I have been having a lot of thoughts about these kinds of meetings since the weekend. I think they are very precious, a gift to us Babblers, a way of taking the stigma out of mental illness, a way of connecting across the globe. I think Dr Bob is quite amazing and generous in this way. However I found that I was very weepy after the dinner with him, and I can't explain my utter exhaustion on the walk. I suspect that there may be some troubling unconscious things that get thrown up in meetings like this which perhaps need to be made conscious and thought about. I am trying to clarify them with myself, and intend to try and write about them and send them to Dr Bob. Perhaps I will post them here as well for comment. I'd be interested to hear whether you experienced anything of the sort when you met with him.
You've all been much in my thoughts over the last few days. Wouldn't it be great to one day have a big Babble reunion and all meet at last
Posted by PartlyCloudy on September 14, 2010, at 16:31:43
In reply to Re: How was mountain climbing? » Dinah, posted by vwoolf on September 14, 2010, at 10:22:15
> Sorry, I should have written sooner, just been overwhelmed with other things since.
>
> Anyway, it was a bit of an adventure. A small group of us decided to climb up the mountain, have a picnic lunch on top and then take the cable car down in the afternoon. We set off at about 10 am. I'm not sure how it happened, but we missed the path and had to walk miles to find the next one, which was very steep and nearly killed me. I'm not sure why I found it so tiring - I am quite fit and walk on the mountain every weekend, but I really struggled this time. Dr Bob was like a mountain goat skipping up the path and taking millions of photographs. We only got to the top at about 2 pm. We had our picnic looking out over the Atlantic and the Indian oceans, and then set off to get all the way back to the cable station across the top of the mountain. However I had forgotten that the mountain looks flat on top but really isn't - it climbs up and down, and up and down. We walked and talked and it was beautiful and we stopped often to admire the spring flowers etc. and the afternoon wore on and we got tireder and tireder.
>
> At about 5.45 we started to hear a siren sounding from the cable station and realised that this was going to be the last car down for the night. We raced on but there were still several steep slopes to climb with chains and things to make them more complicated, and I had started to panic thinking we would have to spend the night on the mountain. Luckily they must have seen us arriving because they held it up for us and we staggered on board at about 6.30. The other passengers did not look amused, but we giggled all the way down.
>
> It was a lovely day but quite exhausting - for me at least. Then, as we were driving back to his hotel, the sun dipped below the horizon over the Atlantic and we saw an an amazing green flash in the sky just above where the sun had been. I have never seen one before although I have read about them often. We all felt quite breathless at the beauty and wonder of it.
>
> Since then Dr Bob has been busy with the congress. We may meet again to go to a centre for mothers and children affected by HIV/AIDS that I am involved with but it is not certain whether he will have time.
>
> I have been having a lot of thoughts about these kinds of meetings since the weekend. I think they are very precious, a gift to us Babblers, a way of taking the stigma out of mental illness, a way of connecting across the globe. I think Dr Bob is quite amazing and generous in this way. However I found that I was very weepy after the dinner with him, and I can't explain my utter exhaustion on the walk. I suspect that there may be some troubling unconscious things that get thrown up in meetings like this which perhaps need to be made conscious and thought about. I am trying to clarify them with myself, and intend to try and write about them and send them to Dr Bob. Perhaps I will post them here as well for comment. I'd be interested to hear whether you experienced anything of the sort when you met with him.
>
> You've all been much in my thoughts over the last few days. Wouldn't it be great to one day have a big Babble reunion and all meet at last
>
>I know what you are saying. I have met so many incredibly wonderful Babblers face to face through the years. Impossible without this forum or Dr Bob's support. That in itself is precious to me.
PartlyCloudy
Posted by Dinah on September 14, 2010, at 17:24:00
In reply to Re: How was mountain climbing? » Dinah, posted by vwoolf on September 14, 2010, at 10:22:15
That sounds incredible!!
It's a shame we're all so geographically spread.
I don't think I can recall any intense reactions when I met Dr. Bob. I think I just liked him better, and heard his written words more charitably for a while because I heard them as he would say them.
Posted by Deneb on September 14, 2010, at 17:55:07
In reply to Re: How was mountain climbing? » vwoolf, posted by Dinah on September 14, 2010, at 17:24:00
Thanks for telling us about the mountain climbing! It sure sounded like an adventure!
I didn't have the reaction you did when I met Dr. Bob, I think I was scared, but after meeting up with him several times, I'm not scared anymore. I talk more now. He is so fun! I just love him. :-)
Posted by Deneb on September 14, 2010, at 17:55:59
In reply to Re: How was mountain climbing? » Dinah, posted by Deneb on September 14, 2010, at 17:55:07
Posted by Toph on September 15, 2010, at 15:11:24
In reply to Dinner with Dr Bob, posted by vwoolf on September 11, 2010, at 2:09:14
As the thread has shifted to encounters with Bob, I would be remiss if I didn't add my impressions as I found the other remarks interesting. I met Bob at the first Babblefest in Chicago several years ago. I was impressed with his non-professional demeanor - not that he acted unprofessionally, rather he seemed like one of us. He, for the most part, just seemed to enjoy the river cruise and watching the Babblers interact rather than commanding the attention or acting authoritarian in any way. I left feeling like I had a somewhat more intimate relationship with Bob and the people I met. The second meeting, if I recall correctly, was an impromptu meeting arranged by a participant who was traveling though Chicago. It was a smaller and more intimate group at dinner. Bob again was quiet and answered questions in his usual careful and succinct way. This time I think I felt like he was too mysterious to imagine ever learning what makes him tick. To his credit he was warm, pleasant, accepting and inclusive to all the diverse people in attendence on both occasions. I have always assumed that he would not have similar loose boundaries with patients in his psychiatric practice. He clearly has a different standard for his internet support group. I hope these inperson experiences aren't confusing for anyone having difficulty descerning Bob as friend, therapist or administrator.
Posted by PartlyCloudy on September 15, 2010, at 18:20:33
In reply to Re: Dinner with Dr Bob, posted by Toph on September 15, 2010, at 15:11:24
Nodding my head in agreement.
> As the thread has shifted to encounters with Bob, I would be remiss if I didn't add my impressions as I found the other remarks interesting. I met Bob at the first Babblefest in Chicago several years ago. I was impressed with his non-professional demeanor - not that he acted unprofessionally, rather he seemed like one of us. He, for the most part, just seemed to enjoy the river cruise and watching the Babblers interact rather than commanding the attention or acting authoritarian in any way. I left feeling like I had a somewhat more intimate relationship with Bob and the people I met. The second meeting, if I recall correctly, was an impromptu meeting arranged by a participant who was traveling though Chicago. It was a smaller and more intimate group at dinner. Bob again was quiet and answered questions in his usual careful and succinct way. This time I think I felt like he was too mysterious to imagine ever learning what makes him tick. To his credit he was warm, pleasant, accepting and inclusive to all the diverse people in attendence on both occasions. I have always assumed that he would not have similar loose boundaries with patients in his psychiatric practice. He clearly has a different standard for his internet support group. I hope these inperson experiences aren't confusing for anyone having difficulty descerning Bob as friend, therapist or administrator.
Posted by vwoolf on September 16, 2010, at 0:21:28
In reply to Re: Dinner with Dr Bob, posted by Toph on September 15, 2010, at 15:11:24
I wasn't trying to speculate about Dr Bob and how he is around other people - I don't think that would be helpful and in any case we can't know.
I was trying to explore my own feelings on meeting him and what it did to me, and compare it to other situations where I had met with representatives of the mental health system outside of the traditional settings. I've had a lot of cross-over meetings, and I have had different reactions in each case, but the meetings have never been completely ordinary for me. For example, I run art groups in a psychiatric hospital where I was once a patient. Each time I go there I find myself feeling very emotionally charged - even after a few years it has not become a normal activity. This doesn't mean I think it harmful, or that I want to stop doing it. On the contrary. But I do want to be aware of it so that I can avoid doing things in those situations that might have an effect on the patients I am working with. It's a question of self-awareness, an attitude of caution and self-questioning that I find helpful and am trying to cultivate.
Posted by Toph on September 16, 2010, at 10:31:04
In reply to Feelings » Toph, posted by vwoolf on September 16, 2010, at 0:21:28
> I wasn't trying to speculate about Dr Bob and how he is around other people...
>Me neither.
I think it is good that he is careful in how much he reveals about himself just as we all should be if we choose to meet in person.
This is the end of the thread.
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