tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post4376972406144836753..comments2024-03-18T03:28:36.581-04:00Comments on Shrink Rap: Book Review: Psychotherapy Lives IntersectingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-91804098795055365112012-07-09T14:42:52.766-04:002012-07-09T14:42:52.766-04:00Agreed, Alison. Too bad we do not hear about the p...Agreed, Alison. Too bad we do not hear about the patients whose suicides can be attributed to harmful effects of psychotherapy and too bad that we only ever of the ways in which patients are harmed by therapists who abuse them sexually or financially.So little attention is paid to how real damage can be caused by therapists.Bingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-16931521604097929802012-07-08T21:33:14.916-04:002012-07-08T21:33:14.916-04:00Bing,
As someone who was hurt by psychotherapy I b...Bing,<br />As someone who was hurt by psychotherapy I believe that the potential for harmful effects of psychotherapy needs to be taken at least as seriously as the potential for harmful side effects of medication.Alison Cumminshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06370841996857073237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-18925768226440586352012-07-08T20:55:38.103-04:002012-07-08T20:55:38.103-04:00As someone who was hurt by psychotherapy, I don...As someone who was hurt by psychotherapy, I don't believe in healing alliances.Bingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-76300702067349748042012-07-06T02:47:51.763-04:002012-07-06T02:47:51.763-04:00I listened to Michael Krasny's interview with ...I listened to Michael Krasny's interview with Dr. Berger on KQED public radio station's Forum program last month here in Northern California. The book sounded interesting. As someone who was hurt by my first psychotherapy experience, I never tire of hearing how important empathy, kindness, care, attention, and non-judgement are to a transformative/healing alliance. <br /><br />Here's a link to the interview for anyone who's interested:<br /><br />http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201206121000Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-71986185000830023272012-07-05T09:54:07.696-04:002012-07-05T09:54:07.696-04:00That would be a Dinah nightmare---trying to talk w...That would be a Dinah nightmare---trying to talk while intubated! (Notice the balanced dash? Roy will be pleased.)<br /><br />Looking forward to podcasting this weekend.ClinkShrinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13316134491751195651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-30847574628589163752012-07-05T07:51:51.350-04:002012-07-05T07:51:51.350-04:00I exchanged emails with Dr. Breger and he said he ...I exchanged emails with Dr. Breger and he said he was going to comment, so Lou is Lou.<br /><br />I did assume the patient called in the ICU because of concern about the therapist and not to burden him with his/her issues. But the need for reassurance is still about the patient, and someone else could provide this. Obviously, Lou didn't mind (or wouldn't have done it), but I think I might. On the other hand, if I wasn't deathly ill, and the ICU didn't have wi-fi and my toys, I might be thrilled to talk to anyone.<br /><br />Blogger still thinks I might be a robot. What if I am?Dinahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09227988351623862689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-57512205840160312442012-07-04T21:37:31.282-04:002012-07-04T21:37:31.282-04:00@ Lou: how do we know it is really you?@ Lou: how do we know it is really you?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-65571961436433720702012-07-04T17:09:37.003-04:002012-07-04T17:09:37.003-04:00"I will end by pointing to two things about t..."I will end by pointing to two things about the book that are unique: getting the patients side of the story as opposed to the typical case history that is written by the treating therapist and the, second, the long-term nature of the follow-up."<br /><br />Dr. Berger, have you seen this site?<br /><br />http://www.gailhornstein.com/<br /><br />It is owned by a psychologist, Dr. Gail Hornstein, who has felt for many years that the patients accounts of their experiences with mental illness have been greatly ignored by mainstream psychiatry.<br /><br />She wrote the book, Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness.<br /><br />AAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-16444970310885977882012-07-04T13:11:44.301-04:002012-07-04T13:11:44.301-04:00From the book's author:
I want to thank Dinah ...From the book's author:<br />I want to thank Dinah Miller for her review of my book "Psychotherapy: Lives Intersecting". Her chatty, free associative style fits with the book very nicely. I also want to clarify a few points from her review and the four comments made so far. In past years my wife used to introduce me to people as "my husband the psychoanalyst" and I told her to stop and just say I'm a shrink. Psychoanalysis is still associated with Freud -- about whom I have written two critical biographies -- and I have moved far past that. I practice a kind of psychodynamic psychotherapy that certainly has its origins in Freud but is far different. What my patient's responses, that make up the core of the new book, show is that it is the relationship that is most helpful: close listening in a non-judgmental manner; catharsis; a friendly, caring attitude; admitting and repairing mistakes; flexibility with fees; humor; and insights that are mutually constructed for each unique individual rather than taken from some theory. This way of working can be done multiple times per week over years or once a week for brief periods. But, as one commentator put it, "the relationship rules."<br /><br />I also wanted to comment on the use of psychiatric medications. For a few conditions they are essential. But it is also the case that the pharmaceutical industry has grossly oversold them. In addition, recent research has show that they work best in combination with psychodynamic psychotherapy.<br /><br />As the incident in which a patient phoned me when I was in the ICU -- which both Dinah and a commentator referred to I want to make clear that I was not doing therapy when I was there (I am a bit of a workaholic but not that bad.) This was a patient I had seen for a number of years and she wasn't calling for her own therapy but just to see if I was all right.<br /><br />Finally, as a minor point, I did not use a questionnaire with these former patients but simply an open-ended quarry which allowed them to go off in many different directions.<br /><br />I will end by pointing to two things about the book that are unique: getting the patients side of the story as opposed to the typical case history that is written by the treating therapist and the, second, the long-term nature of the follow-up.<br /><br />Lou BregerLou Bregernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-21510584459079829242012-07-03T21:51:53.103-04:002012-07-03T21:51:53.103-04:00I'm with you on the ICU thing. I can't im...I'm with you on the ICU thing. I can't imagine even wanting to call my therapist or physician while they're hospitalized so I can launch into my tales of woe. What is wrong with a patient who can't stop for a minute and think about the needs of other people? Offered or not, I think that's weird.<br /><br />I haven't read the book but I'm trying to imagine the scenario. <br /><br />Therapist - It's ok to call me when I'm in the hospital, even in ICU<br /><br />Patient - Gee, thanks, Doc!<br /><br />Ring, ring, ring. <br /><br />Therapist - hello?<br /><br />Patient - Uh, yeah, sorry to bother you, I know you're in ICU and all, but my mother is coming to visit and I'm just feeling really stressed right now.<br /><br />Therapist - Oh, hey, can you hold on a minute, the nurse is here to change my dressing.<br /><br />Patient - Yeah, I guess so, sigh...<br /><br />Therapist - Ok, I'm back. About your mother...<br /><br />Patient - blah, blah, blah...<br /><br />Therapist - sorry, can you hang on a minute while they suction me, gurgle, gurgle, cough, cough, cough....<br /><br />Sucking sounds heard...<br /><br />~Abbey NormalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-48566653711970911032012-07-03T15:54:59.631-04:002012-07-03T15:54:59.631-04:00Thanks. Interesting review. I will read it. My p...Thanks. Interesting review. I will read it. My psychiatrist was trained as a multiple-times-a-week analyst, and practiced that way at the beginning of his career, but changed his practice based on his own reflections, the times, and insurance company requirements. My doctor is in California, but does not have relationships with his patients after seeing them as patients. I'd guess it may be different for someone whose patients are psychotherapists themselves. Perhaps he feels they are colleagues. I don't think it is a "California thing". We aren't that much different. We have boundaries between psychiatrist and patient here, also.Sunny CAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11451116932556227816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-37203226465370980292012-07-03T12:53:19.721-04:002012-07-03T12:53:19.721-04:00I was just thinking that he probably really is fro...I was just thinking that he probably really is from another time. There is a retired professional clown I haven't talked to for years, but he was an old school clown. I think he is in his 80s now. I can't even remember his real name. Just his clown name and that white face makeup he always wore. But he was really into traditional "clowning." I was talking to a younger clown, who makes balloon animals, and he mentioned that the older clown considers balloon tricks separate from clown acts and he is very old school. Different style. Different world. Different generation of clowns.<br /><br />Anyhow, I wanted to mention that this clown, who worked for a friend of mine that owns an entertainment company, was booked for a child's birthday party. He had a heart attack the day of the party. He called my friend and told her to let the parents know that he couldn't make it because he had a heart attack and was being taken by ambulance to the hospital.<br /><br />I have no clue how he was even able to communicate or think straight while having a heart attack. But talk about dedication. My friend, who owns the entertainment company, was saying that entertainers are not like that anymore. They blow things off, cancel last minute. He was truly from another generation of truly dedicated professional entertainers.<br /><br />And he was a really good clown. I only remember three clowns from my childhood: My mom, that clown, and another one. And my mother was not as good as the older clown...even given her younger years. She was a good face painter and jolly, and the other young clown was good with balloon animals. But that senior citizen clown had skills! And he never missed a child's birthday party unless he was having a heart attack.Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06030949818467743750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-70742106511322427892012-07-03T12:42:34.878-04:002012-07-03T12:42:34.878-04:00You would kind of expect an analyst to write a boo...You would kind of expect an analyst to write a book of only 120 pages. Even that is a lot considering p-analysts don't say a whole heck of a lot. Um, 6:15 sessions. was the analyst awake? Would the patient even know? All that aside, most of the people I know who trained as psychoanalysts do not really practice the way they were trained. Not enough paying customers these days. They may incorporate some of what they learned but, on the whole, they tend to end up practicing an eclectic form of psychotherapy. Who doesn't?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com