Reflections on Dr. Claire
Right now there's too many things going on in my head, all of which are trying to happen at once. (i.e. before I have a chance to forget them) So I don't know how disjointed this entry is going to be. Hopefully after I've written it, I'll be able to clear this item out of mindspace.
Data inputs relating to this train of thought:
lady_dmray wrote: Most psych people are taught to assume their patients are hiding things, have poor introspection skills, and are manipulative, which makes them really, really bad at interacting with those of us who know ourselves well, and express things directly, and whose non-verbal expressions don't mean the same thing they mean for most people.
Ballastexistenz wrote this post, which is worth reading.
In my last visit with Dr. Claire, I ended up with three diagnoses which I don't fit the criteria for, and one that isn't even in the DSM. When I tried to explain why they were inaccurate, I got the sense that she wasn't really considering what I said. After reading the above quote & blog entry, it occoured to me that part of the problem might've been Dr. Claire thinking there was an uneven power relationship (which, as a psychologist, she's probably used to having with her clients) and was expecting 'defer to authority' behaviours. On the other hand, I have a very even view of the power relationship between us - as someone who's paying 70-90% of the cost out of pocket, I rather expect that I'll be listened to when her suggestions don't fit with my understanding of how my mind & behaviour works (which I've also spent the necessary time and effort to gain a pretty good understanding of).
Add in that Dr. Claire seems to be on the trailing edge of the GI generation, where Respect For Authority was drummed into people, and it's not surprising that we seemed to be talking past eachother. I'd described the style of my interactions with authority to her (borrowed azalynns' phrase that 'it's like being a kitten that doesn't have the reflex to go limp when it's picked up by the scruff of its neck'), but she apparently didn't get that on a gut level. I have to wonder how much she understood on even a cognitive level.
It's another for the file of "it makes sense in retrospect..."
Data inputs relating to this train of thought:
lady_dmray wrote: Most psych people are taught to assume their patients are hiding things, have poor introspection skills, and are manipulative, which makes them really, really bad at interacting with those of us who know ourselves well, and express things directly, and whose non-verbal expressions don't mean the same thing they mean for most people.
Ballastexistenz wrote this post, which is worth reading.
In my last visit with Dr. Claire, I ended up with three diagnoses which I don't fit the criteria for, and one that isn't even in the DSM. When I tried to explain why they were inaccurate, I got the sense that she wasn't really considering what I said. After reading the above quote & blog entry, it occoured to me that part of the problem might've been Dr. Claire thinking there was an uneven power relationship (which, as a psychologist, she's probably used to having with her clients) and was expecting 'defer to authority' behaviours. On the other hand, I have a very even view of the power relationship between us - as someone who's paying 70-90% of the cost out of pocket, I rather expect that I'll be listened to when her suggestions don't fit with my understanding of how my mind & behaviour works (which I've also spent the necessary time and effort to gain a pretty good understanding of).
Add in that Dr. Claire seems to be on the trailing edge of the GI generation, where Respect For Authority was drummed into people, and it's not surprising that we seemed to be talking past eachother. I'd described the style of my interactions with authority to her (borrowed azalynns' phrase that 'it's like being a kitten that doesn't have the reflex to go limp when it's picked up by the scruff of its neck'), but she apparently didn't get that on a gut level. I have to wonder how much she understood on even a cognitive level.
It's another for the file of "it makes sense in retrospect..."