T's and Pdocs

Out of curiosity, what is your T and Pdoc configuration? Also, if you do see a pdoc, how did you find him/her and how does he/she stack up satisfaction-wise? (No reason for this poll except it just crossed my mind at 3AM while I'm not sleeping again.)

My Pdoc is also my T, he does psychotherapy plus cognitive behavioural and mindfulness based techniques. Satisfaction wise, it goes up to 11 (sorry, random Spinal Tap reference joke there ). I'm very happy with him, he's the best Pdoc/Therapist I've ever had in more than 20 years.

As for how I found him, I'll copy paste what I wrote in another thread about 'How did you find your T'.

He chose me actually. My GP referred me to a mental health crisis assessment service a couple of years ago when I was going through a really unstable period (mostly with depression, psychotic symptoms, and SI). Had an initial assessment done by a MH nurse and social worker, then got referred onto one of the resident in training Pdocs for further follow up. It was decided that although it was felt that I did need therapy in the longer term, I wasn't 'acute' enough for their particular service to help me as they deal with the management of immediate and severe MH crisis and emergencies. I didn't think I'd hear anymore from them, but a couple of days later I got a call saying that their lead clinician had seen my file and was very interested in my case and would I like to come back in for an appointment. I've been seeing him ever since.

I put I only have therapist but see a pdoc once a year as I can't afford $400 an hour to see a pdoc, but can see a pdoc once a year which is covered by my country's health system.

I suppose I should answer my own questions. I have both a T and Pdoc. I was matched up randomly with my pdoc the first time I was hospitalized. He normally doesn't take on new patients from the hospital, but for some reason he offered up his out-patient services to me. I was very blessed that day. He is a sweet man and as my T says, this pdoc is incredibly smart about meds. I mean, pretty brilliant in his array of knowledge.

He's much more soft spoken than my T and therapy would definitely not be his forte, but he is very caring and supportive. He listens to my concerns and respects my opinion about my treatment. Even though he is soft spoken, he is just as straight-forward and direct with me as my T. In fact, in a way he is probably more direct and firm with me than my T, probably because he's the one who has actually seen me at my worst in the hospital.

The kindest thing he said to me was, "I promise we will find a way for to get through this." He meant it.

Yikes! Only once a year? I'm assuming you are on meds. Doesn't seem right to only monitor your meds once a year, or is it a situation where they have you see a nurse practitioner most of the time?

I have my individual T once every 2 weeks and just see a regular doctor to refill my med. It was already working for me and prescribed by some specialist on campus when I was in grad school last spring.

I have two therapists currently and one psychiatrist.

I don't find the psychiatrist to be helpful beyond the fact that it's good to have a specialist to prescribe medication. He's not very open to negotiation when it comes to his decisions around medication.

The psychiatrist told me that long term therapy is bad and that I needed medication, then he told me that medication wouldn't help someone like me, there was nothing he could safely prescribe and that I just needed to "dig deep" in therapy, then he went back to saying that long term therapy is a bad idea and that I need to stop. I once asked for a very short-term dose of something for some very serious anxiety issues around a particular situation that I really couldn’t cope with and he insisted over and over again that there was nothing I could safely take. I had nothing left and I ended up in tears (even though I never cry like that in front of anyone). While I sat there, broken with nothing left and just wanting to get the heck out of there, he said okay he would prescribe something very short-term but only if I increased the dose of my antidepressant and then he kept insisting that I would get addicted if he was willing to hand it over easily. It was the second time he’s insisted that he couldn’t and wouldn’t help me with medication before mysteriously changing his mind.

So, the psychiatrist is very definitely only for medication management!

And honestly, I'm a pretty straightforward patient.

I actually have two Ts (one CBT and one psychodynamic) and a pdoc. The pdoc sees me for 15 mins and is fairly useless because I have had terrible reactions to medications he has given me...and there have been a lot I have tried. He of course doesn't have much else to offer. I now have a new one to try and I will be his first patient to try it. Woo hoo.

15 minutes is the longest I get for an appt with the pdoc...he does do therapy with some patients. I needed another T when I first started seeing him, but he said he had no time for another psychotherapy patient. Now I am so grateful...as a pdoc I can stomach him but as a T I don't think I could stand him.

Oh, and my now ex-T recommended my pdoc. I think my pdoc does the best he can as I am a terrible patient because of my reaction to meds. He seems to have a ton of patients and does listen to what I have to say. He is a little dry but I think psychiatry as a whole is odd so I don't expect much. My last pdoc was horrible. This one is at least nice, empathetic, and listens to me. He does focus more on my depression than I would like when I really really need help with my anxiety, but there are a lot more drugs out there for depression, soo....

I currently only have a T.. I am looking in to whether or not a Pdoc would be beneficial for me or not, just for the meds not for therapy.

My primary referred me to my pdoc. I was referred to see the T who worked in the same office as my pdoc, but she was too booked. So I contacted the crisis line and found my T that way.

I prefer having seperate doctors. I don't want any of them going on a power trip, so they all have to keep each other accountable

I have 2 psychiatrists. One who handles my therapy and one who handles my meds. I chose them both and they work together on my case. They were at the same practice but this year they will be in separate practices so Im hoping they can continue the same close relationship they have now. I also have a endocrinologist, who my meds pdoc recommended, to help treat the PMDD.

Im very confident in this team of doctors.

I'm lucky to have a pdoc who is also a therapist, so I see him twice a week for psychotherapy, and sometimes in my therapy sessions we also discuss my medication. I would never be able to afford twice-weekly therapy sessions with a T who was not in the publicly funded medical system, and few therapists are. With my current T, I pay the same as I would any medical professional, approximately 45 US dollars per session, up to a maximum limit of approx 160 US$ per year. So after four sessions, my therapy (and most other medical stuff, if I should need to see my GP for instance) is free for the next 12 months.

Mostly, I feel lucky to have a T who is a genuinely good fit for me. But I'm also very much aware of how lucky I am to have a T who is paid by my tax kronor.

This is interesting and breaking down about as I suspected it would. I think it's great that there are a fair amount of you that have a pdoc who does your therapy also. There are more of you than I expected. Thanks for indulging my curiosity.

My pdoc was randomly assigned to me 5 years ago at the depression research center of a big hospital. He didnt do any t at the hospital but is a big fan of CBT, so he insisted I see a cbt therapist there. It was only 6 weeks but very helpful so I was glad for the push.

Wherr I live what pdocs can do in practice is mostly dictated by insurance compaies. Ive seen my insurance claim statements, and my pdoc is reimbursed much less for a $240, 40 minute appointment than for a 20 minute, $165 appointment. But they will cover a separate therapy session with another provider so long as they are NOT an MD. So at his new private group practice he will see patients for 15-40 minutes, but not weekly. For that he referred me to a dbt t in his practice. I know there are some pdocs who are private, but I feel like that denies too many people access to care and kind of bothers me. If he didn't take insurance there is no way I could afford him. For a $15 co pay, I get to see both him and my t as much as I want (within reason of course). I see him for 20-40 minutes once a month and my t once a month. For a couple of years I saw her bi weekly. Him always monthly.

He is big in research and has published around 50 articles, mostly about the effectiveness of meds and depression scales. His research is focused on what really works for his patients and I think that is rare in this field. So with that I think he is a gem. He's also really cute as well, which doesn't hurt either :-) .

My PDoc was referred by my neurologist.
The T I have now, was a circled referral from pdoc, when I showed him my insurance list, when my former T couldn't be my T, after insurance changed. That T,, I'd researched and found through my insurance list. Was with him, before pdoc. Neuro, longer than any T's, since being in my 30's.

See t,, every 2-3 Weeks, pdoc every 6-8 Weeks, neuro every 6 months, to a year.
Sent from my LG-MS910 using Tapatalk 2

My Pdoc will do. I feel like he knows what meds to try for my illnesses, but I feel he's less good about side effects/potential side effects, and drug interactions. I've been at this long enough that I feel comfortable with tweaking dosages, time I take medications, and even deciding when to stop a med and try a new one. It seems that in the US, psychiatrists are trained to push drugs at us without thought about potential longterm issues such as major weight gain. I have developed other health problems because of psych meds I took. I'm trying to find a psychopharmacologist, but all of those in the major metropolitan area/s I live do not take insurance and charge upwards of $300 per session.
When I moved to a new city 3.5 years ago I first found a therapist and then I took to her a list of psychiatrists who accepted my insurance. She knew/liked 2 of them - the first didn't take insurance, but the other did.

My psychiatrist is my therapist. I was referred to her by my family doctor.

I am very suspicious of psychiatrists, because in the past they have caused nothing but problems and psychological harm due to misdiagnosis. When I first met with this one I was very cautious about the things I told her because I thought she would use it against me. She proved to me over a 6 month period that I could trust her. She even respected my wishes not to go into my past psychiatric records from one particular hospital that I had major problems with. I really appreciated that she came up to her own conclusions and not those of some of her haphazard colleagues. For this she won my respect.

We get along and work well together.

I have only a pdoc, for meds. It is just a 15 min appointment, every 3 months. Pdocs don't do therapy where I live. I was referred to my pdoc by my partial hospitalization program. I requested a woman and she was basically assigned to me.

My vote is somewhat premature. In about a week and a half I will have my first appointment with a Pdoc. As long as things work out I will have an individual therapist and a psychiatrist. For some reason I like the idea of having the two separate. I don't mind if they touch base about me, but I don't think that I would like therapy from the person that prescribes my medicine. Cost though will be an issue, and I hope that finding medicine that works for me is a quick process.

I have a T and a Pdoc. I see my T weekly and Pdoc every 4-6 weeks for med management. I found my Pdoc on a search of psychiatrists who took my insurance. My first Pdoc was wonderful. She did a bit of therapy but mostly we talked about meds. She left the practice so now I'm seeing someone else there. He doesn't do any therapy; he's all about the meds.

My T came to me through my GP. My Pdoc came to me through my T. All three of them talk regularly about my progress.

I see my T 2-3 times a week. I see my GP every 2-3 months. I see my Pdoc every 2-3 months. GP/Pdoc will have me come in more frequently if need be.

I love that they all work together, takes a lot of pressure off me to relay messages and so on.

I have a therapist. I occasionally have a session or two with other therapists or I may join a personal development group now and then, but mostly it's just me and my T.

I have a T and a Pdoc, My GP referred me to my Pdoc who is a great guy, My mental health nurse knew my T so she referred me to her, They all work together and in the same building which suits me fine, I see my Pdoc every 8-10 weeks and my T every week.

My psychiatrist is my therapist. I do therapy twice a week. We only talk about meds when there is a problem like recently I developed a case of SAD and needed an anti-depressant. Otherwise it's talk therapy. I chose him because he is an analyst. There is a small circle of psychiatrists here who are analysts and are interested primarily in therapy. Mine is great. I switch from another analyst who was also good, but this one is even better. I've made so much progress with him that I can't even say I'm the same person.

currently, i don't have either but in the past i always had a separate T and pdoc. my last pdoc, who i was referred to by the T, was great, and kinda cute as ucla docs tend to be.