I have often thought about how disability or deformity or age or grief can significantly effect the psyche. There is much written in books & articles, but to connect with the experiences as I have experienced these things in my own life and in those of patients, has made me appreciate with an even deeper understanding, what people go through. This enables me to deal with these issues better in my work.
I recently came across an article on grief & loss in the New York Times that really spoke to me. Copy & paste the link is below and I hope it touches others too.
Tag Archives: Psychotherapy
All therapy is about the connection. People don’t believe it matters to the therapists, but it does. One of the most difficult things about being a therapist is that you rarely know what happens after someone leaves. Occasionally people keep in touch, but it is like being involved in a living soap opera – and I don’t mean that in a pejorative way – and never knowing the end of the story. Of course I know if someone leaves and is feeling better or leaves and has not made much ‘progress’ and of course many come back at a future time – but I never really know. These patients are not lost to me. I never forget anyone or their stories. I just don’t have a view anymore. That makes me sad but it is not about me and is just a natural part of the work.
Connection and your Therapist
I am a psychotherapist in private practice for over 30 years. I see individuals & couples in therapy & counseling from all walks of life and with all manner of issues. I hope you will find this blog interesting and informative. Every therapist is different and works differently. These are just my musings.
Today I would like to share an experience that to me illustrates how some people worry about what therapists think. I was once at a dinner where a woman said of my work that it must be awful because I see people at their worst. I told her that in fact it was just the opposite. I see people at their best – when they are the most sincere, most vulnerable and most real. Except for a very few who don’t stay anyway, I like them all. I am never put off by the presentations because I can understand and empathize. That people think so many things are shameful amazes me.
That’s all my musings for today. I liked the following article from Psychlology Today.
Related articles
- How Do You Know Your Shrink Is Helping You? (psychologytoday.com)
Paula Zuckerman, LCSW. Random thoughts on a 30+ year psychotherapy practice 