wise mind or paranoia?

Last December, I was looking for a new pdoc because my anxiety had caused me to have physical problems.

I was evaluated by a clinic, who referred me, again, to psychiatric care for medication.

I found Dr. C., on the medicare.gov site and got an appt December 15.

This is how it was.

There was no receptionist; it was just him and me. The receptionist was not even in the building; she made appts with him and me from another place.

The room was tiny; he did have a desk with a computer, but he sat in the chair, at the desk and the desk was NOT between us. I sat in the opposite chair, but there was only a foot between us in distance.

The room was dark, dimly lit, with no window. Again, kind of small.

In the waiting room, there were no people; usually there are tons of people in a waiting room in a pdoc's office.

Once in the room with him, he was very friendly. I don't know how to describe it, but my "survivor" radar thought he was acting too friendly. He was dragging out my name, saying, "Welllll, Caaarrrollll...how are you?!" very friendly. Like a friend or a close person, instead of a patient.

All I wanted was meds and checkups. Not this.

Then, after I gave him a chance and still felt weird, he offerred therapy.

I am not sure what's going on and I asked Ani. He thinks I need to leave.

I would like the board's feedback.

Thanks,

Carol

I would leave.
And never go back.
Creeeeepy.

How so?

You don't have to answer. You can pm me if you don't feel comfortable telling me on the board.

I need validation on my feelings. Do you think he might be abusing me? I mean nonphysically? I don't like just going on a feeling.

Carol

I don't know... I used to go to a very small office that sounded very similar. The waiting room was about as big as my kitchen and had three chairs. Usually it was just me. The receptionist was there, but was behind a glass. My pdoc was very friendly and sat in much the same fashion as your describing here. It was called the "City Clinic" and was part of a larger network but was just the smallest clinic in the network. I loved that particular pdoc. I did also see a T in that clinic, but I used to have pretty lengthy conversations with my pdoc when I saw him and new he actually cared about my progress. The only reason I stopped seeing him is because he switched to only seeing inpatients at the psych hospital they're all affiliated with.

Maybe dig a little deeper--are they affiliated with a larger network? Is he affiliated with a hospital? It's probably totally legit and having more information to back that up will make you feel better about it.

I give anyone three chances, three sessions. After that, I know. Three is time enough for weirdness to resolve itself, but I also tell the person what they're doing that's making me uncomfortable whenever I can. Sometimes I can't say anything, and that is the biggest clue: if I am not comfortable enough to say, "When you do X, I feel Y," then it's not a good situation, because some sorts of roles are developing, and they're not healthy ones. What they ARE, is harder to say. They're just not the right foundation for therapy.

I don't hear what you're describing as abusive. My pdoc has a very small office and it's kind of dumpy. I'm not very comfortable in it, but I like him, so I go.

I like bpd2's advice. You should probably give him at least one more try. But don't discount your gut feelings, either. He may just be overly effusive and his style is not matching yours. If that's the case, then keep looking. To me, I think you just "know" when it's right.

if he made me that uncomfortable, i'd be going back to the place that sent me to him and tell them to find me someone else.

my post in your other thread still counts. you might want to consider that and see what his reaction is. otherwise, maybe have someone go with you and sit in the waiting room for you? then you can run out and have someone there that you trust.