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ultramar · May 05, 2013, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monalisasmile

Just from replying to a post it got me thinking. Most ts most be at some level voyeuristic. They learn the most intimate and painstaking details of a clients life.
I wonder does it give them power to get invited into the clients life but not allow us into theirs.
They spend all listening to our dramas and our secrets.
Some part of the t must need to feel important. This is not a negative insight on therapists but I am curious about their reasons for becoming a t because I think my own just wants to find out information about everyone

How about your ts?

I've avoided revealing what I do in healthcare because it's pretty unique and may completely 'out' me here, but I figure at this point I've revealed quite a bit on different forums and I don't think I know anyone here IRL. And I want to answer this concern, which involves revealing what I do.

In any case, I'm a certified Spanish Medical Interpreter at a major teaching hospital. This means that I interpret for Spanish-speaking/Limited English Proficient patients all over the hospital --all outpatient clinics, inpatient units, for procedures, in the ED, everything you can imagine. I've been doing this for 12 years

In the course of my work, in some ways I'm a 'fly on the wall', a witness to everything you can imagine, including situations revolving around death and dying, psychiatric units, the ED, social work, etc.

I am a very curious person, and am often interested in hearing my patients' experiences, often the most personal things that can be revealed... BUT, I am also always cognizant of the fact that it is a privilege for me to be in this position, that I am honored to be a witness, that many of my patients are very vulnerable, that the information I am privy to is private and to be respected. Some interactions may fulfill some curiosity in me, but I am 100% aware that it is about helping them, it is not about me.

Sometimes I'll interpret for a patient over years, with different providers for different issues. Sometimes for their children as well. I know a great deal about them, they know nothing about me. But I don't feel like it gives me power, though it's possible that some patients may feel this way. The more sensitive the information/situation, the more gentle my voice tends to become, the more comforting my facial expression (the few ways we interpreters can communicate personally with patients in some way). It makes me feel important only in the sense that I have the opportunity and the privilege to help them when they are at their most vulnerable, without judgment. I feel 'good' when I am able to do this, but not 'more than', certainly not as having power 'over' them. One of the ways I respect the information I'm privy to is to not 'gossip' with co-workers about patients, we share information sometimes if another interpreter is going to interpret for the same patient, and could help them better help the patient, knowing something about them beforehand.

I don't know if this answers your question. I guess I'd say that although some therapists may happen to find what is revealed in therapy 'interesting', this doesn't mean that garnering this information is for their benefit -fulfilling their curiosity may be a kind of byproduct, but not the purpose. I think a therapist can have a certain amount of healthy curiosity without making it be about them, without trying to extract information for their benefit instead of the patient's. Whatever curiosity it may fulfill, if the aim is to help the patient, the sharing of this information is about the well-being of the patient and the vulnerability of the patient is respected, the power differential (because there is one) can then interfere as little as possible in the relationship.

As with so many things in therapy, I think if it's all about the patient's benefit, their needs, not those of the therapist, then that is the key. If a therapist has his/her own agenda and is in this mostly to fulfill their own needs, then they shouldn't be practicing therapy. I think as patients sometimes we can accurately sense this and run for the hills, but other times it's just our perception and not accurate. It can be hard to tell the difference sometimes.