More Shrinkage Available
It turns out that there are more than two psychiatrists in Nanamo after all. When my shrink said that he was only one of two in the city he meant only two private practitioners. There is a group of about five others attached to the hospital who work directly for the provincial Mental Health authority. I'm not too sure of the purpose of the distinction, given that even the private ones get paid out of the provincial health care fund, but I guess for the doctor it means more control over working hours, workload and so forth. Another difference is that to gain entry into Mental Health's programme you have to go through an assessment and then be approved by "the board", which I assume is basically the five shrinks.
Today I had my assessment. If the intake nurse is any indication of the quality of the rest of the staff then I really hope I get accepted into their programme because she certainly knew what she was doing. Not a single sheet of paperwork for me to sign. She managed to get me to think about some aspects of my problem which had previously eluded me. And she treated me like an adult, not a child or an idiot.
She said that other than trying the usual pharmacological approaches they don't focus on why you're having the problems you are:that could take years of therapy for which they don't have the manpower. INstead they focus on learning to deal with the effects. In my case the two main problems are, I think, that I have trouble getting motivated, especially for things which are obligations, and I worry too much about disappointing others. Obviously the two are related. So I think the process would be along the lines of recognizing which behaviours result from these two areas of concern and then adjusting my behaviour to lessen or eliminate the negative impact. (I'm just guessing here.)
They mostly do group work, if for no other reason than that best leverages the time of the shrinks and the counsellors, but one-on-one is available if needed. I'd be more comfortable one-on-one, but I'm willing to give group a try.
I should know by the end of the week whether I've gotten in.
Today I had my assessment. If the intake nurse is any indication of the quality of the rest of the staff then I really hope I get accepted into their programme because she certainly knew what she was doing. Not a single sheet of paperwork for me to sign. She managed to get me to think about some aspects of my problem which had previously eluded me. And she treated me like an adult, not a child or an idiot.
She said that other than trying the usual pharmacological approaches they don't focus on why you're having the problems you are:that could take years of therapy for which they don't have the manpower. INstead they focus on learning to deal with the effects. In my case the two main problems are, I think, that I have trouble getting motivated, especially for things which are obligations, and I worry too much about disappointing others. Obviously the two are related. So I think the process would be along the lines of recognizing which behaviours result from these two areas of concern and then adjusting my behaviour to lessen or eliminate the negative impact. (I'm just guessing here.)
They mostly do group work, if for no other reason than that best leverages the time of the shrinks and the counsellors, but one-on-one is available if needed. I'd be more comfortable one-on-one, but I'm willing to give group a try.
I should know by the end of the week whether I've gotten in.