What do you do if you come to realize you don’t like a patient/client? Is there a protocol? Recuse, refer, get over it?
Is there really not a single doper who is a clinical therapist?
My guess is that Psychologists don’t want people bothering them, just like other “professionals” don’t want people bothering them. However, we of the lower income classes are asked continually for advice about our professions from the “professionals”
I hope I didn’t just cause an unintended move to the barbecue pit. I guess I just vented.
Yeah, lawyers and doctors never answer questions on the SDMB. Damn greedy professionals.
I’m sure that if a psychologist really cannot work with someone, he’ll be willing to refer that patient to someone else who would be more able to treat him. Professionalism will enable someone to work with a lot of people, but everyone has a limit.
BTW, I think the term `shrink’ could be construed as offensive.
I think the psych would be encouraged to take the issue to supervision (while continuing to see the client) because strong feelings towards a particular client are often indicative of a countertransference happening. Working through this can ultimately benefit the therapeutic process, although if the feelings of animosity continue despite supervision, then I imagine that the therapist would have to refer the client…for everyones benefit.
Well, before my dad retired, he actively disliked a few of his clients.
He was an adolescent/child psychologist who was well respected by his colleagues and liked by his patients.
I think it’s just the sort of thing you work through. I’m studying to be crisis counsellor, and I assume that some people will rub me the wrong way. So what. You could be a plumber and have people rub you the wrong way - it’s not a huge issue.
Assuming a therapist had a client that they absolutely couldn’t work with, they would just refer that client to someone else.
Because I have had the opportunity, to visit a shr er ah psych, LOL, my experience is that if the relationship does not click, it is a waste of the client’s money. Having to deal with an authority who is agitated with you is not therapeutic. I have only had that happen one time and it was best to be removed right away from the situation. I had enough to figure out without the added stress of a new problem situation. The psych needs to deal with that problem with his own counsellor.
I say “shrink” fondly. After all, what do they actually shrink . . . not my mind. That is expanded no matter what happens. I am thankful to the counsellor I had.
I’m not a psychiatrist, but like most doctors I know the basics. I do a lot of emergency psychiatry.
Doctors are pretty tolerant; psychiatrists often very much so. Still, none of them like dealing with certain patients, and many (to be frank) dislike dealing with borderline personalities. If they don’t think they can help the patient, many will say so directly and suggest someone else. In Canada, the doctor has an obligation to provide emergency care and usually recommends someone else (other services, or if there is a relevant doctor in the area taking new patients).
You make a good point, Random. Surely there is some way I can bill for all of the advice I give out here. :rolleyes:
I am Borderline Personality. All of my doctors have been wonderful and my medicine is balanced and I have been a “normal” person for two years. Maybe there are doctors that dislike Borderlines, but at this point it has not happened for me. I guess I can see how that would happen. I have grown very fond of my doctors and it appears they have of me. Maybe I am very lucky.
I understand how all the free advice a person gives could make them a fortune, if it was paid for. In my profession, I seem to give free advice all the time. I am even approached on the street for it. I guess it makes me feel worthwhile and competent.
i’m not even close to being a shrink yet (someday, though…) but what i am told by my lecturers in university is that the moment a therapist realises that he or she suffers from some sort of negative bias (such as activley disliking a patient), he or she should attempt to transfer the case to someone else. this is for the benefit of both the patient and the practitioner.
sounds logical to me, but then, what do i know? i’m only a half-baked undergrad.
a friend’s dad was a phd psycho/therapy type. He used to say that he knew a patient was “cured” when he could stand to be around them.
Not a “shrink” but a mental health counselor. There are people I can relate to and some I even like but the basis of therapy is to know your client well while maintaining boundaries to preserve objectivity. There are clients who are frustrating in that they are unresponsive, but generally these are the ones I am more compelled to try and crack (my own personality traits coming in…)
But occaisionally there are clients I just have a personality conflict with - one in particular comes to mind…I referred this particular patient to someone I felt might be more helpful. It is really a matter of what is beneficial for the consumer.
Easy! They just prescribe ECT…
mipiace, you said just how I think counselors should be. The consumer has “hired” the mental health person to help solve problems for them. The client is the consumer. They should get what they paid for. The counselor needs to actually care about the person, be detached enough to still see the whole picture and have the personality to bring that person to the desired place.
When there is just a clear cut personality clash, the consumer, should pay for someone more efficient and competent for themselves. That doesn’t mean the counselor is not good for someone else. Money is often part of the consumer’s issues. They should not have to waste it.