Dear Reader– PsyTx.com has a new feature, a blog. That’s not all. I am doing the blog to help with a new book on psychotherapy for both professional and general readers. The book, called, (you guessed it) Moments of Change, at least for now, will tell a lot about how therapy works and how to make it work better.
To be sure that the book responds to the things people really want to know, I would like you to give me your questions. I will try to answer them in upcoming posts. Not every question is guaranteed an answer, and I will be looking for themes and topics to address in a more general way.
Disclaimer: The ideas presented here are only suggestions and may not be right for your individual situation. They are not a substitute for the advice of a professional who knows you, so please do consult with a licensed professional of your choice regarding the application of any information obtained from this site.
You mentioned questions for upcoming blogs. I do really like your website and find much of what you post interesting and insightful – and much of it backs what my therapist tells me
Anyway, I’ve been in therapy, on and off, for about 12 years. Dealing with “neurosis” I guess – trust issues, attachment issues, etc. Anyway, I’d love to see something about attachment, and more specifically, attachment to your therapist. I have a very strong attachment to my therapist and have come to see him as a father. I struggle with this on a constant basis, because he’s not my father, he is my therapist and is one hell of an ethical one at that and would never ever stretch the boundaries (which of course are some of the things that I wish for…). Anyway, anything on those issues, would be incredibly useful. And yes, I do talk to him about it as well, but having a more detached view of it would be really helpful for me.
Thanks!
omg! i have no clue.. will someone tell me how to get this page added in my ipod so my brother can take a look at it?
Dear Lesli, On my iPhone I went to Safari, and entered blog.psytx.com/ and got the blog with all posts. Hope that works on your iPod touch. JS
Thank you for a wonderful site!
I have a question about how to know if my psychiatrist is right for me. He appears very knowledgeable and generous, but he is never warm and never says anything positive. After a year of weekly psychodynamic psychotherapy, I feel like I am a worthless person (I did not feel like this when I started). I feel traumatised by each session and spend the following days crying. I really believe he is trying to help and I feel guilty about going to someone else.
I would appreciate your comments.
Dear Louise, Please understand that it is hard for me to know about your therapy, so these comments are a little general and maybe there are other factors. The first thing is to make this the single primary issue in your therapy. Resolving this issue might just be therapeutic in itself, but it needs to be resolved. A therapist might just be cold by nature, or might be trying to follow what I feel is a misunderstanding of Freud, by withholding normal human warmth. If this is traumatic for you, then the likelihood of the therapy going anywhere, until and unless your feeling changes, is not good. People who have been traumatized, as well as many others, may not do well with a non-supportive style of therapy. I personally think that all therapy should be warm and human, and you should feel good after most sessions. Did you try the Scarsdale Psychotherapy Test? That may further focus your evaluation of your therapy. Hope this is helpful.