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Psychology Career Resources |
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The mind is like a trunk: if well-packed, it holds almost every thing; if ill-packed, next to nothing. Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827
Psychiatrist
For the many people who suffer from mental disorders and others problems that affect the minds there are well trained doctors that can give help. These trained medical professionals are psychiatrists. A psychiatrist unlike a psychologist is trained in understanding and diagnosing what causes a persons mental health to deteriorate.
As a psychiatrist there are many ways to treat the mind. The medicines that are prescribed by a psychiatrist will help the mentally disordered person to find some way of bringing their lives back into order. Besides giving medication to help the disorders, a psychiatrist will have to understand what is causing the problem in the first place. Once they know the problem they need to work out steps with the patient to deal with the problem.
This preventative measure that a psychiatrist can take will give the person who has lots of problems in their lives due to mental disorder, a long term solution. Besides treating mentally disordered people the psychiatrist will be able to gain an insight into the stresses that many of us face daily in our lives. As a result they have the capability of informing us of the many possible cures that we can use.
To find a well trained psychiatrist is not that difficult. The medical council or association should have the names of all the psychiatrists in your area. You should make sure that you are comfortable in psychiatrists presence and you should feel that you can trust them. Due to the fact that you will be uncovering parts of your self that you may not be comfortable with the psychiatrist should have the experience to help you with this period of time.
It is a fact of our lives that when something traumatic happens our minds will shut that section off. While we will not know the cause for this, it can leave a mental scarring that can in some way ruin our lives. This scarring can also change our emotional, mental and behavioral patterns. Therefore it is only with the help of a fully trained and sympathetic psychiatrist can you unlock the dark secrets that are hurting you.
Once this period of scarring has been ended the psychiatrist will be able to help you to recover. This recovery period can include medication and therapy. Since a psychiatrist has been trained to deal with the emotional upheavals in life they are the ideal people to talk to when you are still trying to rebuild your life. Therefore you should look for a well known psychiatrist to give you the help that you need.
A Guide For Choosing The Right Psychotherapist for You
By Gloria Arenson
 Some people think that going to a therapist is like going to a car mechanic: they expect the therapist to diagnose a specific problem and fix it just as the mechanic puts in new brake pads or readjusts the carburetor. These clients expect something to happen to them. That is not the case. Don't expect the other person to have all the answers. Therapists don't come with crystal balls. You have the answers. They are already within you. The psychotherapist helps you discover those answers as you examine your thoughts, feelings and behaviors. I think of therapy as education. In therapy you may learn new skills to help you communicate better, decrease difficulties in your life and increase benefits.
Don't be afraid to shop around for a good match between you and your therapist. No matter how well trained the therapist is, if you are not at ease with her or willing to talk about personal problems or feelings, you will be wasting your money. Trust your intuition.
When my daughter was a teenager I was a single parent in a quandary about how to deal with her behavior. I wasn't a therapist at that time, and our small family was in turmoil. I found a psychologist who was well known and highly credentialed. After two family counseling sessions with him I cringed at the thought of going back, but I told myself that he knew what he was doing since he was so well known. Fortunately, my daughter trusted her intuition and absolutely refused to go back under any circumstances. It turned out that none of us liked him or felt comfortable with him. We found someone else that we liked and trusted and got better results.
About a year later I bumped into an acquaintance I hadn't seen in a long time. She looked happy, and excitedly reported that she had the most wonderful therapist. He had helped her change her life. When I asked who it was, she gave me the name of the man my family had hated. The lesson here is not that someone you don't like isn't a good therapist, it's that someone you don't feel comfortable with is not the right person for you. Ask your insurance company for more than one referral just in case, so you can choose wisely.
If you have a friend or family member who raves about their therapist, take the recommendation seriously only if your friends or family have shown significant and visible changes in behavior and attitudes during their therapy.
Once doctors have finished their basic training they can continue with specialty trainings to become surgeons, obstetricians, cardiologists, and more. This is not the case with psychotherapists. Most psychologists, marriage and family therapists and social workers get basic training plus the equivalent of an internship before they take their license exam. Those who are interested in specific areas like addiction, bi-polar disorder, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders etc. must get additional training on their own.
When you meet with a new therapist, it is OK to ask direct questions about his background. Ask what qualifies him to be a specialist in the problem you want help with. When you go to a medical specialist you want to see a doctor who has seen hundreds of cases or be operated on by a surgeon who has done the procedure you are having hundreds of times. It is the same with mental health professionals
Beware of a therapist who acts like a judgmental parent. My client Mary eloped with someone she had dated only twice, just before her thirty-fifth birthday. The marriage immediately fell apart. As Mary told me about this awful experience, she reported that when she was in her twenties and went for therapy following a romantic breakup, her psychiatrist said, "If you aren't married before you are 35 you never will be!" She took his word as the word of God and unconsciously jumped into the disastrous marriage before it was too late.
The most critical factor in successful therapy is the development of a positive, trusting and understanding relationship with your therapist. Don't settle for less.
Gloria Arenson, MFT, treats stress, anxiety, trauma, phobias, and compulsions. She has authored How to Stop Playing the Weighting Game, A Substance Called Food, Born To Spend, Five Simple Steps to Emotional Healing, Freedom At Your Fingertips and Procrastination Nation.
http://www.GloriaArenson.com
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