What's wrong with my therapist?

You are very welcome! I thought of it because I have met many people that have found it to be very helpful. Some even enjoyed Day Tx because of the interactions with other clients. Once you are there, you may even be able to get a psychiatrist to prescribe meds to you.

I really hope that you can get into a program. Good luck with that. Let us know how it goes!

LOL, Starry_Night. She's new, and there's a constant revolving door at this practice, so she may not last.

You are funny !!!


Birdy

Hi Salinger ~ Could you explain why I need to be careful about PE therapy? I have never head of this. And she does have a military background.


One thing that does stand out, and maybe this is part of what you are conveying to me. She asked me to read the first chapter in a Mindfulness Book. I had already perused thru it and found it triggering and I said so. I told her I was afraid to do the exercises because it might trigger me and being home alone that would not be a good thing and I was not prepared to go this quickly thru without her being there with me. She didn't care, she said my job for the next week was to read the chapter that I objected to.


Birdie

Sigh... well, I called Medicare and they do not cover Day Hospital, only Partial Hospital which is what the hospitals in my area won't cover. So, back to square one. Thank you though for thinking of this !!

I am always a lady in waiting... for this and that.


Birdie

You know Hummingbird, if I had met a therapist like that, I would feel like I entered the Twilight Zone.

That is kind of weird. It wouldn't work for me either...in fact I wouldn't likely have gone to a second session, much less a third. You need to have a good fit between the two of you. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't just find someone else. However, for me I find it very empowering to be able to tell therapists directly what does and doesn't work for me. Sometimes I tell them face to face, but usually only if I want to salvage the relationship. In this case I would probably call and tell her on the phone call why you want to cancel your session with her and why you are quitting, that way you don't get charged for another session.

You know Partial Hospitalization is the same as Day Treatment. In fact, in my area (Oahu) they use the two terms interchangeably. So, please don't give up on this. I think there might be just a confusion on the terms.

Thank you Going ~ I think you are correct about the terminology. I called and spoke to the higher-ups as Medicare shows the hospitals are still in network and have an active contract, so they are supposed to admit me for day hospital partial hospitalization. The hospital said they will contact Medicare about putting their Contract on hold for now. I did call back to Medicare and Medicare said they cannot put any Contract on hold, so Medicare is looking into this and I'm to call back on Monday to find out what is what. I can be persistent and I do really need this now.


Birdie

Dear Going ~ I got a hoot over your comment about the Twilight Zone. Indeed, indeed !! Thank you for bringing some levity to this situation.


When I first sat down in her office on Monday, the first thing I noticed was how she placed her hands on her desk between us. Her nails.... being very red, but they were sharp, very sharp points on the ends, not rounded. Nothing pretty to look at as she stretched her fingers towards me.I'm sure she noticed my noticing her hands. She also wore very pointy shoes, meaning the toe portion of her shoe came into a severe point. My first appointment she wore very attractive clothing, but I'm sure her heels were dyed to match her dress. That day she had black nail polish and dark blue lipstick. If she dyes her hair to match what she is wearing next week, I won't go in with her, I'll have to walk away.


Next week when I go back and enter her room of doom, I will remember your comment about entering The Twilight Zone, LOL.


Birdie

It occurred to me last evening, when thinking about what else is missing with this therapist. She never says my name at all. Mentioning my name is bridging the gap between two people, I believe and is an important part of any conversation. When I get up to leave, I have a tendency to shake the hand of either a doctor or therapist in appreciation for their service. This therapist puts her hand behind her back. Then she closes the door immediately on my heels and I am left alone to wander the hallways to find my own way out.


When she came out the door to greet me on Monday, which she is as tall as the door, she scanned the room and apparently didn't recognize me and walked back inside. I had to get up to tell the receptionist that I was there. When she came back out, I got up and walked towards her and she didn't recognize me until I told her my name. She let me in first and as I was walking down the hallway (there are many hallways in this practice) she got annoyed with me that I turned the wrong way. I heard her utterance in a hissing manner. Next week, I will let her go first. She also mentioned that the rollator I use for balance is now called "the monster in the room" or "that thing" that barely fits. I didn't appreciate that. I guess she doesn't like me bringing my rollator into the room. Now, the psych doc I am currently seeing at another practice, won't let me wheel my rollator into his room either, so what's up with that?

I have a list of questions for her next week, so I will not be talking about myself, I want to know about her, her style of therapy, if she does EMDR and how she helped the PTSD survivors coming back from overseas and other trauma survivors. I want her to set up a plan for me with goals, etc. I need structure to my session with her and I need to know what to expect from her. I want to know what she can do for me. Even though I am looking for another therapist, I do want her to understand that I am in control of the sessions and I will not tolerate her gas lighting. I will address her comment that "I enjoy my depression and what would it be like to live without depression" and how inappropriate that comment was. At this point, I don't care if she doesn't like the session with me or dismisses me, I want her to understand that my needs are not being met so far and what my expectations with a therapist are going forward. Then I will take that odd picture and turn it around so I don't have to look at it.


Birdie

Sorry but I had to laugh at the description! She seems like an evil movie character :-) you could go there to observe her, like a curious sociologist :-) now I can't wait for your update, mainly if she changes her hair colour :-)

Birdie, these things sound terribly unprofessional! I'm shocked. I wouldn't go back to her.

Seeker ~ Yes ! She reminds me of Cruella De Vill on 101 Dalmatians produced by Disney.


Birdie

Hi Seeker ~ I am not going back. Thru your support and other members here , I have decided not to go back. So, continuing with my search. I will go back to that practice to try out one of their psychiatrists that a number of people in my building go to and speak highly of her. In the wings I will keep my former psych doc just in case the new psych doesn't work out.


Cruella De Vill, I will never let you get to me again, HA !!


Birdie

Just in. On the heels of making a decision to not go back, I got a phone call from a therapist I found on Psychology Today and made an appointment for next Thursday. I asked her if she had experience with trauma patients and she said yes, she did.


BTW, her picture looks like a normal person.

I will see the new psych doc the day after in Cruella's office setting. Hoping I don't run into her, but I doubt she will recognize me. In a way, I do hope to get a glimpse of her to see what she looks like, LOL. I have to say, the ratings of her on Yelp are true to form.


Birdie

So glad you've decided to get a better T, you deserve much better! I exactly thought of Cruella too
I hope you do see her for a second because I wonder about her look, too LOL. You have a gift of writing that I pictured her vividly!
I'm absolutely sure you've made a right decision! I wish you good luck and keep us updated.

Thank you for updating me. I am glad that you are being persistent about this. I hope Medicare comes through for you. I think this would be really good for you.

Tell them that you need a higher level of care or much more care than what is provided to you now. If worse comes to worse, you might consider letting them know about your situation with this so called psychologist.

OMG! When you describe her, I picture a witch! Her stretching her nails out like that and her pointed, pointed shoes would creep me out. I would want to look at her and shake my head in disappointment. I would probably say, "WEIRD."

By the way, I am glad that you like my Twilight Zone comment.

Everything about her is inappropriate. Getting pissed off because you accidentally turned the wrong way. What's up with that?! This is a shinning example of how the wrong person can slip through the cracks and become a therapist. I don't know how the practice manages to keep her. There must be a lot of complaints about her.

I hope that you can get a new therapist and attend a Day program.

As far as the rollator goes, I believe that according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, you should be able to bring it in to the provider's room. That is weird that they don't want it in the room. It doesn't take up that much space. People get on to the bus with them. But most importantly, people like yourself need it to maintain balance. Let them know about the law. If you should fall, do they want to face a lawsuit? That is ridiculous.

I am so sorry that you have to deal with such craziness and stupidity.

Hello Going ~ Yes, indeed !! The more I reflect back on the last sessions, I have come to believe her physical presentation is off-putting. I was, trying to find the correct word for this, felt her nails, for example were inappropriate and her body language was very telling. Why would she stretch out those red painted very pointed fingernails towards me the minute I sat down. Everything about her smacks of crazy making.


And that picture that she keeps on the floor facing me of a fractured person with bits and pieces disconnected on the print is very unsettling. I knew if I went back, I would turn that picture away from me.


Yes, at first my mind could not grasp her hissing at me for turning the wrong corner until much later on after I left and reached a place of safety. I needed to be safely away from her to reflect on all the oddities that went on and that hissing has been haunting me. Hissing at a client............ imagine that. She could do alot of damage/harm to a patient. This one thing had a reverberating effect on me and it is still going on inside of me, trying to work on getting that out of my head.


Yes, I agree, I think those therapy sessions would be a good story for Stephen King too. The Twilight Zone.... the patient enters the room of uncertainty, what would become of the patient after entering and being exposed to a mind altering experience............ would the room carry with the patient in it's mind forever to be stuck in those 4 walls, repeating the exposure forever, trying to undo the experience and searching for that door of safety. Would the patient take that picture of the fractured person and make it whole again? Let me stop here as I am getting carried away.

I keep reading that this practice has a revolving door of therapists and psych docs. Over the year I have wanted to go there, but my insurance would not permit it, but every time I visit their site online, they have different therapists there. This therapist I am seeing now is relatively new and already there is a slew of complaints about her on Yelp.


And that is another thing, my Rollator. I need that for stability so I am clueless why a person in the medical field would object to "the monster in the room", or "that thing". Such an inappropriate thing for a therapist to show judgments like this and share with a patient. It's one thing to think this, but not out loud. When my new psych doc's nurse objected to me walking the Rollator into his room, when I got home, I noticed that the bags attached to my walker were unsnapped and riffled thru. Needless to say, I won't be going back to these two so-called medical professionals.


Now, I feel I need to go into therapy to deal with the effects of what Cruella De Vill did to me. Fortunately for me, I am not going back to continue to expose myself to this type of shock therapy.


I will start a new psychologist next week with open eyes and will have lots of questions for her. Now, my anxiety is very high about sitting down in front of a new therapist. There are absolutely no reviews about her online, she has been practicing for 20 years. She was listed on Psychology Today and those are verified professionals, so hoping nothing goes south for me. I don't drive myself so I won't have a car to dive into to grasp a sense of safety should this next appt go south. I have never had this experience with anyone before.

Birdie

Going ~ Thank you very much for your concern about the issue with insurance coverage for Partial Hospitalization. The Administrator over that program said I am on the list to contact should the insurance go back into place. However, will keep checking back weekly.


Yes, good idea to talk to them about my recent experience with this therapist.


As I sit here now, with the long day ahead of me, I wish I was traveling now to Partial Hospitalization for a structured day. When I went in-patient, it was such a relief to know that I was in a safe place where I would be taken care of so that I didn't have to worry about myself.

Going, thank you for your active communication and following me and validating my experiences too


Birdie

Hi there Seeker ~ Thank you for following me. I will not be going back to Cruella, to let her know I am making a change. I may get a phone call from the office inquiring if I will be back to make another appt and then I will say that I will not be returning, but will not give a reason why. When I see this practice's new psych doc next week, I may let her know how I reacted to this experience.


Will keep you updated how my new appts go next week.

Birdie

RUN!! RUN!! RUN!! These people are insane. Be stubborn about your rollator (my husband uses one). "I have to use the rollator unless you want me to fall." Americans with Disabilities Act. I always tell my husband to utilize his disability strategically. LOL!

Will you consider writing a review for her? I think it's important to give feedback of some kind. If people are quiet, she might hurt someone more vulnerable.

I am sorry but when I read blue lipstick I knew she had to go. Blue lipstick? It’s distracting. Just sitting there typing and blue lipstick. Smh. I hope you find the best care possible. This lady isn’t it

Thank you Artley ~ Because I was beginning to think that I am not allowed to bring my Rollator into a therapy room or psych docs room, I started allowing them to tell me not to bring it in the room. I thought that was an odd request, but I didn't challenge it. Now I will, thank you !!


Birdie