"cleaned up" mental expertise
problematize
22 april 2008
Afternoon
A novel need of mental-help. Most pressing
in this need of mental-help is for an "atheist"
therapist.
Terminological pause. "Atheist" is a dated word.
I mean something broader, a therapist who is
atheist, irreligious, of course, but also free of any
superstition, determinism, any ideas of past-life
regression, any notion of spirits, fairies, ghosts,
any reliance on luck-trinketry, any ideas of
meant-to-be or
everything-happens-for-a-reason-or-for-the-best,
any pomo or newagism such as pre-cognition,
any esp, alien invaders; as well, out with almost
all lauded-in-20th-century conceptualizations
of brain-products, such as those from the writings
of Jung & big-gang europeans, with their millions
of followers, and so on.
Is there a directory of such "cleaned up"
therapists?
"Psycho-therapy",too, sounds like therapy-for-a-psycho.
Mental-help has something to do with
stress-effects, which affect brain-body. Is there
a term less archaic than "psychotherapy"?
I think I heard of "neuro-psychiatry", which sounds
along the lines I mean (very brain-physiology adept),
but is there a therapy school similarly physiological?
This is a beginning. I may have other questions
and certainly need of locating help.
Thanx!
'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`
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Card XII
be serious about psychotherapy rather than try to define
yourself into a corner.
Few psychotherapists would approach you from a religious
standpoint. If you go to a pastoral counseling center or if you
contact a "Christian counselor," that would obviously be different.
Just contact a good therapist (I recommend LISW social worker
or a licensed (doctoral level) psychologist. Go to the yellow pages
and find one.
Forget your concerns about words. You are not correct about them
but that really doesn't matter. For example, neuropsychologists are
not therapists: they specialize in physical functioning of the brain.
Best of luck to you.
Dan
--
_____________________________
There is a way to go through life
other than being dragged
kicking and screaming.
"problematize" <proble...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:SPPM1080422...@psychcentral.com...
Tim McNamara
problematize <proble...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 22 april 2008 Afternoon
>
>
> A novel need of mental-help. Most pressing in this need of
> mental-help is for an "atheist" therapist.
Unless you see someone who presents him/herself as offering a
faith-based counseling approach, you should have no trouble here.
> Terminological pause. "Atheist" is a dated word. I mean something
> broader, a therapist who is atheist, irreligious, of course, but also
> free of any superstition, determinism, any ideas of past-life
> regression, any notion of spirits, fairies, ghosts, any reliance on
> luck-trinketry, any ideas of meant-to-be or
> everything-happens-for-a-reason-or-for-the-best,
Everything does happen for a reason, this being the operative result of
the principle of cause and effect. Although randomness is also present
in the universe resulting in less than perfect predictability.
> any pomo or newagism
> such as pre-cognition, any esp, alien invaders; as well, out with
> almost all lauded-in-20th-century conceptualizations of
> brain-products, such as those from the writings of Jung & big-gang
> europeans, with their millions of followers, and so on.
Licensed psychologists should not be using approaches that are not
supported by critical literature and good research. Cognitive therapy
is arguably the best-supported of the bunch.
> Is there a directory of such "cleaned up" therapists?
>
> "Psycho-therapy",too, sounds like therapy-for-a-psycho. Mental-help
> has something to do with stress-effects, which affect brain-body. Is
> there a term less archaic than "psychotherapy"?
That's still pretty much the current term. Although "counseling
psychology" has been a term bandied about for years.
> I think I heard of "neuro-psychiatry", which sounds along the lines I
> mean (very brain-physiology adept), but is there a therapy school
> similarly physiological?
Neuropsychiatry and neuropsychology are to a great extent research
oriented, although "neuropsychological testing" can be obtained to help
determine whether there are cognitive deficits present in an individual.
> This is a beginning. I may have other questions and certainly need
> of locating help.
Your area may have something along the lines of "First Call for Help"
which is basically a public referral service. Many state boards of
psychology and psychological associations also have referral services.
Arcadian Rises
> In article <SPPM1080422153656-25...@psychcentral.com>,=0A=
>=0A=
> =EF=BF=BDproblematize <problemat...@gmail.com> wrote:=0A=
=0A=
[...]=0A=
=0A=
> > "Psycho-therapy",too, sounds like therapy-for-a-psycho. Mental-help=0A=
> > has something to do with stress-effects, which affect brain-body. =EF=
=BF=BDIs=0A=
> > there a term less archaic than "psychotherapy"?=0A=
>=0A=
> That's still pretty much the current term. =EF=BF=BDAlthough "counseling=
=0A=
> psychology" has been a term bandied about for years.=0A=
=0A=
What about "life coaching"? I heard this somwhere I cannot remember=0A=
now, perhaps PT?=0A=
=0A=
=0A=
[...]=0A=
=0A=
> Your area may have something along the lines of "First Call for Help"=0A=
> which is basically a public referral service. =EF=BF=BDMany state boards =
of=0A=
> psychology and psychological associations also have referral services.=0A=
=0A=
That's a starting point, perhaps not the best.=0A=
=0A=
I needed an expert on a very short notice and I called the local APA=0A=
chapter for referral. Calling just several numbers referred was quite=0A=
an experience, at one point I remembered Mel Brooks "High Anxiety"=0A=
movie to wich I could very well relate.=0A=
=0A=
Anyway, each and every MD asked how I got their number and when they=0A=
heard they were being referred by their guild, somehow they weren't=0A=
too pleased, but they were graciously given me several telephone=0A=
numbers of their less busy brethren.=0A=
=0A=
By pure chance, after speaking to many picturesque characters, I=0A=
finally got a very professional, compassionate, perceptive, not to=0A=
mention competent and brilliant MD who's done a splendid job, but I=0A=
can't remember how I got his number if my life depended on it.=0A=
=0A=
=0A=
=0A=
=0A=
Tim McNamara
Arcadian Rises <Arcadi...@aol.com> wrote:
> On Apr 24, 8:05=EF=BF=BDpm, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net>
> wrote:
> > In article <SPPM1080422153656-25...@psychcentral.com>,
> >
> > problematize <problemat...@gmail.com> wrote:
> [...]
>
> > > "Psycho-therapy",too, sounds like therapy-for-a-psycho.
> > > Mental-help=0A= has something to do with stress-effects, which
> > > affect brain-body. there a term less archaic than
> > > "psychotherapy"?
> >
> > That's still pretty much the current term. Although "counseling
> > psychology" has been a term bandied about for years.
>
> What about "life coaching"? I heard this somwhere I cannot remember
> now, perhaps PT?
"Life coaching" is generally a non-clinical approach and is IMHO a
marketing strategy for counselors who don't want to deal with the
strictures of insurance companies. Life coaching is also not a
regulated profession like psychology and "life coaches" come with all
sorts of credentials (or lack thereof). For many people who aren't
really suffering from a pathology and are just having some problems in
their life, life coaching can be a positively oriented approach without
the stigma that can come with diagnosis, etc.
> > Your area may have something along the lines of "First Call for
> > Help" which is basically a public referral service. Many state
> > boards of psychology and psychological associations also have
> > referral services.
>
> That's a starting point, perhaps not the best.
>
> I needed an expert on a very short notice and I called the local APA
> chapter for referral. Calling just several numbers referred was quite
> an experience, at one point I remembered Mel Brooks "High Anxiety"
> movie to wich I could very well relate.
>
> Anyway, each and every MD asked how I got their number and when they
> heard they were being referred by their guild, somehow they weren't
> too pleased, but they were graciously given me several telephone
> numbers of their less busy brethren.
>
> By pure chance, after speaking to many picturesque characters, I
> finally got a very professional, compassionate, perceptive, not to
> mention competent and brilliant MD who's done a splendid job, but I
> can't remember how I got his number if my life depended on it.
Psychiatry- at least around here- is a very difficult profession to deal
with. There seem to be about 1/3 too few psychiatrists to meet the
demand, resulting in appointment times being out 3-4 months. And
interestingly enough, many psychiatrists seem to have little
understanding or interest in the concept of customer service. I hear a
lot of complaints about rude, inattentive and hurried psychiatrists
spending well under 15 minutes with the patient and sending them out the
door. I am pretty selective as to which psychiatrists I send patients,
even within my own clinic.
I'm glad you found a psychiatrist who is working well with you. It's an
important relationship, after all. I suspect that the process you went
through is not all that unusual except that you *had* some options. In
many parts of the US, there may only be one or two psychiatrists within
100 miles- os even none.
BTW, please set your newsreader to post in plain text (ASCII) so that
it's not necessary to tediously fix your post by hand to remove all the
weird line endings. Thanks!
problematize
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13 may 2008
Tuesday morning
My first posting was dated 24 april 2008. Here
is the second.
Extreme culture-shock is my trap. This doesn't
happen often. I do not yet know how rare it is.
One of its consequences is inability to speak about
it. Cold-calling for mental-help is therefore
impossible. I am also sure that local help is not
going to be properly qualified help. This is why
my concern against risking less than very cleaned-up
expertise. Even if I could speak about it, my
situation is too complicated to explain. So this
is an unusual situation.
======
===
[Card xii] You are asking self-defeating
questions when you need to be serious about
PT rather than try to define yourself into a
corner.
===
======
The culture which shocked me is very too
non-atheist and unselfconscious. So the focus
on finding cleaned-up expertise. Failure to have
shed extraneous beliefs indicates what? Soft thinking?
Personal fear? Inability? Weak inquiry? Mental-helpers
who have not got reality down themselves are how good
at managing the reality of something like extreme
culture-shock?
======
===
[TM] Unless you see someone who presents as
offering a faith-based counseling approach,
you should have no trouble here.
===
======
You are naive. I am afraid that, at root, the
problem with concealed stance is its assumptions.
Those who think there are non-brain locuses of
love, caring, predestination/plan are more likely
to make mistakes, because they are trained to imagine
back-ups like meant-to-be or higher forgiveness.
======
===
[TM] Licensed psychologists should not be using
approaches that are not supported by critical
literature and good research. Cognitive therapy
is arguably the best-supported of the bunch.
===
======
I fear a hot-house effect. You know what they say
about lawyers in USA. Psychology degrees are
easier to get.
======
===
[me] "Psycho-therapy",too, sounds like
therapy-for-a-psycho. Mental-help has something
to do with stress-effects, which affect brain-body.
Is there a term less archaic than "psychotherapy"?
[TM] That's still pretty much the current term.
Although "counseling psychology" has been a term
bandied about for years.
===
======
Sounds hot-house too, however. But extreme culture-shock
is beyond counseling. Something along the lines of
reconstruction expertise is necessary. So the idea
of cleaned-up expertise.
======
===
[TM] Psychiatry- at least around here- is a very
difficult profession to deal with. There seem to be
about 1/3 too few psychiatrists to meet the demand,
resulting in appointment times being out 3-4 months.
And interestingly enough, many psychiatrists seem to
have little understanding or interest in the concept
of customer service.
===
======
A bulk of customers must be of consumerism.
I am outside that realm. No attention-neediness here
and no hype-generated or mild maladies. My understanding
is that psychiatrists are an apex under which the support
and advice (and reams of paper) (or call it insulation)
of anyone who can obtain a psychology degree or socialwork
degree or even less. Indeed this sounds like trouble to be
avoided, if psychiatry is one big paycheck underwhich a huge
number of smaller paychecks. Presumably, proper expertise
in exotic cases can get quick access to psychiatry.
That is why I think that starting with proper expertise is
important, which isn't local for me.
Maybe the real question is whether to go for cleaned-up
or expertise, if the combination doesn't exist. You
all seem to be saying that cleaned-up isn't a recognised
category of specialization or attainment. It should be.
Extreme culture-shock is a horror, both physical and
mental. Right now, blocking out a lot of memories
seems the best I can do. It isn't a happy pot to
be strewing in. Sorry if I seem sketchy, but this is
a fragile start. No help is better than bad help is
the starting point.
==============
...from my first posting :
======================================
Terminological pause. "Atheist" is a dated word.
I mean something broader, a therapist who is
atheist, irreligious, of course, but also free of any
superstition, determinism, any ideas of past-life
regression, any notion of spirits, fairies, ghosts,
any reliance on luck-trinketry, anything psychic, any
tarot cards, and ideas of meant-to-be or
everything-happens-for-a-reason-or-for-the-best,
any pomo or newagism such as pre-cognition,
any esp, alien invaders, and so on...
=======================================
==============
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Tim McNamara
problematize <proble...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My first posting was dated 24 april 2008. Here is the second.
<snip>
I'm sorry but I can barely make out the gist of what you are talking
about. As such I fear I will be limited in my ability to offer any
useful advice.
> Terminological pause. "Atheist" is a dated word. I mean something
> broader, a therapist who is atheist, irreligious, of course, but also
> free of any superstition, determinism, any ideas of past-life
> regression, any notion of spirits, fairies, ghosts, any reliance on
> luck-trinketry, anything psychic, any tarot cards, and ideas of
> meant-to-be or everything-happens-for-a-reason-or-for-the-best, any
> pomo or newagism such as pre-cognition, any esp, alien invaders, and
> so on...
IMHO there is no human alive that would meet every single one of these
criteria. Everyone has some superstitious beliefs (defined as a belief
in one or more unsubstantiated processes or assumptions).
And everything does happen for a reason, although not necessarily for
the best, because cause and effect is an operative principle in the
universe (although in chaos theory there is some allowance made for
randomness and the universe is considered to be stochastic).
Avoiding psychologists that use past life regression, spiritism,
fairies, ghosts, good luck charms, tarot cards, etc should be easy.
Ditto precognition, ESP, aliens are also not within the norm for
psychological practice.