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Simcha · Dec 10, 2008, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imapatient

Thanks Simcha.

It's the program assoc with the big public univ. here, so there are a lot of people with the organization. I'm not sure how the whole process works, but the in-take person might just be over the phone for a very superficial "traffic cop" screening. You can request a M of F therapist and they do a 2-or-so-session evalution before figuring out how they can best help.

I only went so far as saying "I've been referred to your program" as far as disclosure. And the phone--personal. I didn't get a return call. I'll call back, but the phone situation from what I've experienced so far is very at odds with the way the program ostensibly operates.

No problem. Pardon me while I rant for a minute. I'm prone to ranting every now and again...

I hope I don't bore you with details. I can only be straight with people about my own personal experiences with such things. It comes from work experience, my advocacy experience for other veterans at the VA/university academic affiliations, and personal experience as a patient. I'm a college student but I've been around the block a few times. Some people might not agree with what I will say here, but, in my experience, Universities are usually NOT top notch in terms of the psychotherapy they offer. Diddo for psychiatry any other type of medical services. Oh, I know what they say and what people assume about universities, where many claim that the best services are provided there (medical and otherwise); however, just because a program is listed as being OFFERRED, it does NOT mean that it is quality. I'm not impressed by what you have described here, and I'd say you've been shown a red flag that you need to go somewhere more professional. There are PLENTY of fish in the sea, and it will be very easy for you to make another phone call to another therapist in the private sector, now that you have overcome the barrier of reaching out in the first place. That's the hardest part.

You know, I've never heard of a set time to "evaluate" a patient to decide how the clinician can "best help" the patient--especially something as specific as a defined 2 or so sessions. Therapy is an evolving process; people do not reveal their entire problem in two or so sessions---yet, they claim to be able to understand what the answer to your problem is by then? Do they conduct evaluations to teach their students how to evaluate, and then ship you off to someone else? I have worked for a very large university hospital for quite some time (until recently when I became disgusted and quit). I worked in many different areas, including psychiatry. I know far too much about how they operate and function, and it is actually pretty sickening sometimes. Am I biased? Only if "bias" means that I speak the truth about what I was involved in and what I have personally seen with my own eyes. At my university (which is also where I used to work), you can investigate a lot of stuff yourself on their website. Any therapy offered by a resident or "fellow" (residents and fellows have graduated medical school but are being trained in their chosen specialty, such as psychiatry) are definitely out of the question if you want quality. As odd as it might sound, you would do better to see a graduate student in clinical or counseling psychology than you would to see a resident in psychiatry for therapy. The supervision for psychology graduate students is quite intense, and they also have higher quality education in conducting therapy than the psychiatry residents do.

/rant.

I guess I don't want anyone to have to go through a bad experience. It's tough enough to reach out for help, and THEN to not even know where to turn... and then to be severely disappointed or even damaged by a bad experience.