You make a good point.
The cynic in me says it’s a cash grab; Dr. gets to charge an office visit for reviewing each questionnaire.
This.
Unless you are under court order or something, he shouldn’t be making demands. And if he makes requests, he should explain why.
I once had a dentist fire me. I missed an appointment, and they told me they would no longer book me for the prime first spot on the morning. I told them that was the only time i could make, what with my commute. They said that meant they couldn’t treat me.
So i found a new dentist and asked them to send over my records. They freaked out. “Why are you leaving us!?” “Um, you fired me.” “We can work something out.”
I’m still at that new dentist. I’ve been a lucrative patient (a few crowns, cleaning every 3 months). I guess they were playing chicken and thought i would take a day off work to see them?
Ironically, now i work from home and can go any time.
20+ years ago my urologist required a consultation with my wife before performing a vasectomy.
But it is under duress. “I can’t treat you unless you let me do this.” I might understand it if there were issues with self-care or self-harm or maybe if you had a complete break from reality like Cotard’s syndrome.
But is that duress? Go to another psychiatrist.
Is that what they’re calling it now?
Good call. This request calls for a tremendous amount of trust on your part that he/she will act professionally and will use discretion and judgement when talking to 3rd parties. You don’t know this therapist. You have no idea if they are even competent yet. You’ve never had a session.
Just a big “nope”.
This could have well been the case for my cousin. But I actually think it was probably for a genetic study about schizophrenia. I’m not close enough to the family to ask for the story, I overheard my mother speaking with my aunt about it. It did turn out that there was schizophrenia running down the other side of the family. They got it sorted with meds.
I don’t think it’s about making sure you’re telling the truth. IMO, the therapist is only trying to get some different and additional perspectives of you so they can form a more comprehensive impression.
Sounds like they’re telling more than asking.
I’m still not seeing the problem. They don’t have to choose this doc (and the OP didn’t.)
If we can help you we will
Soon, as you’re tired and ill
With your consent
We can experiment further still
If the psychiatrist is setting up a diagnostic behavioral assessment, that’s not an unreasonable question at all – family-of-origin stuff is a significant factor in a person’s mental health. Wanting to talk to the your family is no more odd than, say, a ENT doctor asking for a full medical history before giving you a hearing test. Flat-out saying that he won’t see you without that authorization is sus, though.
Very doubtful. It’s more like, “Let me look at the whole family, to get a sense of its dynamics and the way members relate to each other.” Because, as you yourself note, that plays a very large part in any person’s mental makeup. You shouldn’t assume he would have taken your parents’ “side” over yours; a good therapist won’t take sides at all.
Not at all. That would help the therapist understand the family context in which Velocity’s issue’s arose.
Whoa, that’s a huge leap to conclusions. Note that the therapist didn’t say he was looking for the “truth” about the OP; that was just Velocity’s assumption. I mean, yes, demanding access is weird, and worth looking for another therapist. (Velocity, I suggest an LCSW or a LPC). But it’s not as nefarious a demand as you seem to suspect.
Are psychiatrists and clinical psychologists your only choices? What about clinical social workers, or licensed professional counselors, or marriage and family therapists? In my state, LCSWs are popular because they can diagnose as well as treat, and are mostly covered by insurance. Many plans cover LPCs and LMFTs, as well.
“Doc, I think my hearing is going bad. I have to have the TV volume turned up to 11.”
“Well, we’ll certainly look into that. But before I can test your hearing, I’ll need to interview your wife and children to get their perspective on your hearing issues and to provide me with their take on your medical history.”
I didn’t realize the OP was about hearing, or something else with such easy objective measures.
We don’t know what the history is here, if @Velocity brought up his parents or family or childhood trauma as issues that he wants to work on, then it makes sense to get some perspective on that. If that’s the case, the doctor isn’t going to be taking their side, but knowing where they are coming from will allow him to better treat the OP. Not having that perspective could end up with them wasting time spinning wheels, and could even make things worse, if the doctor inadvertently reinforces certain harmful feelings or beliefs the OP has.
I’m not saying that this doctor’s approach is the best or even correct, we don’t really know the context where this request was made, but your example is simply facile.
I think this psychiatrist is serious about wanting the background info. You can certainly ask if he would be willing to work without it. You can ask for clarification as to why it is needed and tell him this seems like a red flag to you.
If he insists he needs it and you don’t want him speaking with others, accept that you need to find a different psychiatrist. Easy.
No, it’s more like, “Doc, I get winded walking up stairs, and sometimes my chest hurts.”
“Well, we’ll certainly look into that. Do you have a history of heart disease in your family?”
TL;DR - what @k9bfriender said.
Read the OP. The patient isn’t being asked to provide info about his family medical history. The shrink is insisting on talking to the family to get background on the patient.
I dunno, even if the motives behind wanting to talk to family members are completely benign the peremptory approach signals to me someone who’s convinced of the perfection of their process and is likely to be less empathetic and collaborative than I personally would find necessary in a therapist. Comes across as authoritarian and controlling–no thanks.