Are you intimidated by the letters after T's name?

How do you reconcile warm and fuzzy T with major league intellectual T?

Well, since I sought out the letters, I guess I wasn't intimidated! I don't think arrogance/humility correlate with credentials necessarily.

Not in the least intimidated. He is qualified in the area that I need help with, that is why I am there.

I can be intellectual and at the same time 'warm & fuzzy', as can he(although not too much of the fuzzy thanks).....the two are not mutually exclusive thankfully.

I've got letters after my name too, so it doesn't bother me.

I wanted somebody with an academic degree because my previous T lacked all understanding of my work environment, and that was one thing that made it hard for me to work with her. I needed somebody who shared my communicative style. And the letters after T's name doesn't mean that he is not warm and humorous - I would not call him fuzzy, but I don't really want fuzzy. (Anyway, I have letters, too, as do most people I spend time with, and so I know from experience that an academic title doesn't affect how empathetic people are.)

T is smart and intellectual - more so than I am, I think - and it's pretty impossible for me to fool him. The fact that he still manages to act in a warm and empathetic manner towards me is actually very important.

****, yes!

I have about 7 letters ... so, no...a T's letters don't intimidate me at all.

i've never seen a connection between education degrees and someone being warm and fuzzy since I've known those with them who are warm and fuzzy and those without who aren't and vice versa
and no, the letters after my T's name don't intimidate me ... I'm glad he has them and that I get to benefit from his educational experience

is this something you are currently finding intimidating?

Not at all. I chose him in part for those letters.

Yes tiger, I am currently finding it intimidating I guess. Not much though.

I have letters after my name so it doesnt bother me.
I dont think it would bother me if i didnt though.

I look at what his degrees are, and then think about my own degrees. I go "hmm I wonder if he just did a normal Honours degree?" as I completed a Specialized Honours degree. He went the route of then obtaining a Masters, whereas I obtained a BEd as my second one.

So nope. No intimidation - depending on what courses he's taken I probably have a wider range in my educational background.

have you ever mentioned it to your T? or not something you feel ok telling her?

Is this a problem for you? How do you reconcile it?

Of course not. I have more letters after my name should I choose to list them. The one I see is neither warm and fuzzy nor intellectual at all.

I don't think the letters after someone's name have anything to do with how "intellectual" a person is. I believe both my Ts to be intelligent, warm people (not "fuzzy"...the closest thing to "fuzzy" in my life is my cats) who also have "street smarts" and the ability to relate well to people. I have found the highly intellectual people in my life often have issues relating well to people and definitely lack a certain self-awareness. I would not want any of these people to ever become therapists.

I have letters after my name, I'm working on getting more letters after my name, I spend most of my time around people with boatloads of letters, I've had people with lots of letters after their name work for me, so letters after a name don't intimidate me in any way, shape, or form.

I specifically wanted a PhD T, because I wanted someone who understood the pressures of doctoral work. My T isn't fuzzy (except his head. His head is fuzzy), but he is warm and empathetic. He wouldn't be my T if he wasn't.

He's not "warm & fuzzy" so there's nothing to reconcile. As for the letters, I would prefer a Ph.D. (he is) because in my case, the smarter the better. I tend to be resistant, very self-protective and I do a LOT of testing. I need a T who knows what he's doing and is able to not let me manipulate him, and who knows enough about psychology to know how to deal with my type of personality. I definitely met my match with current T.

I was initially going to say I do not care whether a person has letters after his or her name or not. However, I realized if a therapist did not have any letters after his name, I would not be comfortable seeing that person as a therapist. In our State, certain letters are required to be licensed; no letters = no license and therefore, not qualified (in my mind at least). I do not find the letters intimidating, but rather consider them at least preliminary evidence that the person might be qualified.

My T is highly educated, yes, but I don't particularly see him as a "major league intellectual" (but for that matter I don't see him as "warm and fuzzy" either).

No. I'm well educated, though not at the same level as T, but I don't feel intimidated.

I have the letters MD after my name, so PhD doesn't intimidate me lol!

By being aware that being smart and being warm aren't mutually exclusive.

And also being aware that "letters" and being smart aren't the same thing either. I have the same letters after my name as T -- as with critterlady, it was immensely helpful during my dissertation work to have someone who knew the life. So I know smart PhDs, crazy brilliant amazing smart PhDs, dumb PhDs. I know PhDs who are complete jerks and PhDs who are just the nicest people you can imagine. I also know all of the above without PhDs. Some without even a college education.

The "cold intellectual" is definitely a stereotype -- it's worth exploring why it comes up so strongly for you around T. I find the assumption tends to be that someone with a degree is going to think less of you because you don't have one, and of course there are people who feel that way, but I find that's often an unfair assumption, and one that says more about the person making the assumption than the person with the degree -- something about their past experiences, or their feelings about their own choices.

Indeed! I certainly wouldn't get on an operating table unless the person with the scalpel had the right letters after their name... same goes for therapy.

And I didn't get a PhD because I'm an intellectual. I got a PhD specifically so I could do the work I wanted to do. If I could have done the same thing without it, I would have. Anyone who's getting letters just to get letters is probably not going to be the best at what they do anyway.

There are a whole lot of reasons someone might have a lot of letters after their name, and just as many why not. For some things I require that people I use have qualifications, like therapy.
I know some PhDs that are really brilliant and impressive people, and others who really only did the PhD because to leave Uni would involve making a decision, and their Prof found them useful to do the grunt work.
Letters after their name mean they have met a standard independent from them that means I can rely on their background and specific knowledge.
I have a few letters too, and others rely on what those mean when they come to me for my work.