POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Mental Health & HIV => Topic started by: mitch777 on October 03, 2012, 11:01:27 am
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hi,
well, the stress, anxiety, and depression has finally got too much.
this will be new for me and i'm not really sure that i can open up to a complete stranger.
i don't think i have any issues discussing the "facts", such as my HIV status, but talking about emotions is another matter.
i tend to put on my happy face but think this would not be too productive, especially with a phyciatrist.
hope she is good and makes it easier for me.
do they really have a sofa in the room? :-\
should be interesting.
mitch
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Hope you find it valuable.
If you think therapy can be useful, and the first session(s) with this one are not interesting, you might need to test another psychiatrist. The first one you visit might not be a good match.
I think its only the headshrinkers who do old fashioned "psychoanalysis" who are still using the couch or divan.
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You are placed in a confortable enviroment.
Just talk to him or her, as if you did with your best friend.
Remember, its costing money, so might as well get your mones worth.
So think every posssible thing you would like to tell him/her, it might be relevant.
Greetings
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Mitch,
I understand where you are coming from.
I am also considering making an appointment as I need to talk to someone objective.
I hope your session goes well.
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thanks for the support!
i just got back from my appointment and it went great!
(no sofa, but 2 comphy chairs to choose from :))
she recognized me from work. (i have bearly worked the past 5 years) (self-employeed retail business that my hubby now runs) i didn't remember her. (brain fog)
she couldn't have made me feel more comfortable. yeah! :)
it was just a first visit, but i am encouraged that she will provide the help i need.
funny, but true:
when i got home i called her and left a message on her voicemail with the phone # of another one of my docs. i thanked her again and said "see you next tuesday".
(my next appointment) OOPS! hope she didn't catch that.
foot-in-mouth once again. tee hee.
mitch
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If you are seeing a psychiatrist I wouldnt expect too much talk therapy. Psychiatrists are usually clinical and interested in prescribing and monitoring medication.
Psychologists or Therapists usually engage in talk therapy, discussing your feelings and such, and is more apt to having a compfy couch to relax on.
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no couch but was surprised to see the stirrups!
guess she tends to want to dig deep. ;D
she IS into talk therapy too!
that is why i think i liked her so much. :)
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If you are seeing a psychiatrist I wouldnt expect too much talk therapy. Psychiatrists are usually clinical and interested in prescribing and monitoring medication.
Psychologists or Therapists usually engage in talk therapy, discussing your feelings and such, and is more apt to having a compfy couch to relax on.
This is not a good summary. There are plenty of M.D. shrinks who do talk therapy. Whether one person's insurance wants to pay for talk therapy is another matter. I have on and off seen M.D. shrinks for years. 70's. 80's. 2000. and now 10's. In three different countries. I have never found that there are no shrinks who do talk therapy. Sometimes there are not ENOUGH shrinks doing talk therapy, to meet the needs of a certain population. Also, many American insurance plans want nothing to do with paying shrinks for talk therapy.
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Also, many American insurance plans want nothing to do with paying shrinks for talk therapy.
Yep, and it's pretty odd (if you ask me), considering study after study has shown that talk-therapy (with or without meds) has the best long-term results over meds alone.
Mitch, I'm glad to hear it went well and you feel you have a good fit with your therapist. That's important.
Strange about the stirrups though! Wonder if she also has a strap-on? My kind of woman if she does. ;D
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i didn't check her closet Ann, but i suspect that red-headed vixen has lots of surprises in store. ;D
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i didn't check her closet Ann, but i suspect that red-headed vixen has lots of surprises in store. ;D
Heh. Keep us posted. ;)
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Mitch, glad you took the step to see someone, after realizing it would be beneficial. And, I'm glad it went well.
I think I was more at ease to discuss being gay and poz, because my therapist is also gay and has been seeing poz patients since the 80's. I think I would actually like to sprawl out on the couch, but he has this antique couch that is not very comfy..lol.
My advice would be to use this time to talk about everything you want to talk about, and even the things you don't. We often don't want to burden our friends and family with this stuff. And, we don't want to seem like the world revolves around us, because it doesn't. So, your therapy time is the time to have the world revolve around you. I mean, unless a person already has an issue of being narcissistic. ;)
Another bit of advice would be to not leave out details. If there is some issue that you have fault in, acknowledge that. I've learned to do that. By examining things that I've done that may have contributed to an argument or distance with a loved one, I learn how I can hopefully change my behavior--even with very difficult people. There was also a defining event in my life that I was too embarrassed to talk about. It was only after several visits that I finally brought it up. I finally decided that this event has had such an impact on my life, and makes up a big part of my problems, that it would be unfortunate not to discuss it.
I know many of us go to discuss being poz and all that comes with that, but I've realized there are other topical things that come up that I would like to discuss. At this point, I need to get back to the poz issue, because I have gotten side tracked with other issues. Well, side tracked with other important issues.
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mitch777
Hi!Im so glad that you took this step.I find that its easier to talk to someone who is not part of the family......When we bury thoughts they never go away, when we talk to someone....its a relief......all this from me....I said that i would never do it and i did!
All the best
Britchickx