T's and Pdocs

My GP monitors my meds but its a bit shaky as she is only young and works parttime. My T who professes to have little knowledge of meds whispers in her ear sometimes I feel.

Separate T and P-doc. My T referred me to the p-doc. The p-doc is absolutely awesome...excellent fit for me.

I have both T and pdoc; both are excellent

Same here with my last T. New T is a psychologist, and that is working out great too, but I do not take meds anyway.

The Ts described by Archipelago above are sadly dying out. There are still little pockets of them in various places throughout the country, but they are aging. There are still some young ones who go to T training, but they are rare.

Psychiatry, before biological reductionism, required MDs to be extensively trained in psychology. I think the older Ts who were trained this way are, by far, the best ones around. I don't think it's all due to the training. It takes someone extremely dedicated to do T training and analysis after going through all of those years in med. school. The field attracted the most dedicated, imo. Most psychiatrists these days, in my experience, know little about psychology.

And that is the reason I have been wrongly diagnosed and given improper treatment for several years...until finding my last T. An analyst P-doc.

I have a separate t and pdoc. My pdoc doesn't really do therapy per se, but my appointments with her last as long as a session. She does my medication management, but feels very strongly that the best way for her to do that is to spend time talking so she can assess how I'm doing. When I first started seeing her, I kind of resented it because I have a t and I didn't need her to play at being my t for 45 minutes a month. But over the year and a half I've seen her, I've grown to appreciate what she offers me. She's not my therapist, but she has different expertise and viewpoints. I value her opinions now.

She sounds like my husband's pdoc. It isn't unusual for their appointments to go 30-45 minutes. Still not exactly therapy, but it is meaningful, more detailed discussion.

My pdoc and I do touch on my personal life, generally not in much depth. He always defers to my T for the actual therapy. He's not afraid to pick up the phone to consult with my T though (usually right then and there) and my T does the same. They consider themselves partners in my treatment which has proven to be very important. They have each other's direct line. Pdoc is a master of knowledge about the medical end of my treatment and I dread the day when either one of them retire. I am certain I will probably never find quite the same quality of care as I have right now.

I agree with Autumn Skies that some psychiatrists out there are the top of the mark. They are driven and dedicated, to go through medical school, train as an intern in psychology and psychiatry, and for some others go on to do more training plus their own analysis to become analysts themselves. The ones I know are always reading and meeting with each other to talk about aspects of their work. My own analyst is in 3 different reading groups which he does on top of a full private practice, one that also services the university in town. And unlike many psychiatrists, he doesn't push meds or think that they are the end all and be all. Plus he doesn't charge any more than an MA level therapist. Some people go into the field because they are truly committed to understanding and mitigating suffering. They aren't in it for prestige or money. Heck, my shrink treats a few for free. He probably gets to write it off, but the spirit in which he decided to do that was genuine.

My Pdoc, T, and GP work off the same notes (with different access level) but they are 3 separate people. My neurologist, my orthopedic and GP share notes so that trickles down to my pdoc and therapist. My therapist is also my caseworker so she approves or denies services. All of them were randomly assigned to me.

I see Pdoc every 3-8 wks unless I do a walk-in. He spends time looking over past notes before getting you. He takes as long as you need to answer his questions in general convarcation. It has been anywhere from 25 min to an hour and a half. I love him, He's a person I'd hang out with outside the clinic. I'd recommend anyone and everyone to him. He's been the best doctor in any field I have ever seen. He even knows a lot about my other medications and health enough to explain exactly how they work and easys my fears. He's real passion is teaching. He's doing this pdoc thing until he can teach.

I see T every 10-14 days for an hour or two depending on if there's a person before me or after me. All my other dr.'s I see every 1-2 months and all keep tabs on my mental health too.

I have a psychiatrist and a therapist. I owe both of them at the center some money because my insurance doesn't cover the whole thing. But they still let me come and make appointments.

It's the best I can do right now.