shadowplay Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 Over Thanksgiving dinner my mother related a story about a psychiatrist at the hospital where she works that shocked me and I thought I'd share it. My mother is a psychologist and heads a psychotherapy unit at this mental hospital, which is one of the best in the country. A big name psychiatrist joined their hospital a year ago and everyone (except her) is in awe of him. Anyway he was running a group therapy session with a few older patients. One acutely depressed woman of 65 with cerebral palsy confided to the group that she feels "ugly." His response was: "Well, you are." The patient was so distraught that she spent another week in the hospital before she was released. The other patients complained to the doctors, but according to my mother all of her colleagues were impressed with his "boldness." I think what he did is absolutely atrocious, and he should be fired. According to my mother he can get away with almost anything because of his name. He believes in a confrontational style that to me sounds like an excuse to be abusive. What do other people think?
whichwayisup Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 He's an idiot and should know better to say something like that to someone who is very depressed and has CP.
amaysngrace Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 Psychiatrists are the wackiest people I know. Your mom should know that by now. That lady is lucky he said anything at all. Most times they do nothing but doodle.
Author shadowplay Posted November 28, 2008 Author Posted November 28, 2008 Psychiatrists are the wackiest people I know. Your mom should know that by now. That lady is lucky he said anything at all. Most times they do nothing but doodle. Yeah, according to my mom 95% of the psychiatrists at her hospital are a-holes on power trips who treat the phds like dirt.
amaysngrace Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 They are not the best people I ever met. They offer very little help. All they do is pretend to listen for an hour and when the hour is up they write you out a prescription and send you on your way. So then you are charged up on drugs left to wonder why your life is a mess on your own. Seriously it doesn't surprise me that he did this. Not even a little bit.
alphamale Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 Psychiatrists are the wackiest people I know. indeed All they do is pretend to listen for an hour and when the hour is up they write you out a prescription and send you on your way. if one wants talk therapy you'll need a psychologist, but s/he can't give you any meds
Trialbyfire Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 I would never believe 3rd or 4th party stories about something as complex as a group therapy session with someone who's considered top tier. No one knows what really happened and what he was trying to accomplish during this session. I'm actually appalled at your mother for being unprofessional enough to discuss confidential work information with lay persons.
Author shadowplay Posted November 28, 2008 Author Posted November 28, 2008 I would never believe 3rd or 4th party stories about something as complex as a group therapy session with someone who's considered top tier. No one knows what really happened and what he was trying to accomplish during this session. I'm actually appalled at your mother for being unprofessional enough to discuss confidential work information with lay persons. There were about ten witnesses in the group who all reported the same thing to my mother's colleagues. If you think having a big reputation means someone is immune to being an idiot or an ahole, you're very wrong. In fact people with big names often cross lines more because they can get away with it. My mother gave no other information about this woman aside from her rough age and the fact that she had CP. She only told my father, my brother and me. I hardly see that as a violation of confidentiality.
Trialbyfire Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 There were about ten witnesses in the group who all reported the same thing. If you think having a big reputation means someone is immune to being an idiot or an ahole, you're very wrong. My mother gave no other information about this woman aside from her rough age and the fact that she had CP. She only told my father, my brother and me. I hardly see that as a violation of confidentiality. These sessions should be taped if there's any future concern for violation of ethics or whatever psyche professionals call it. The psychiatrist in question also deserves confidentiality. If she is of the position to take disciplinary action against this psychiatrist, then do so, with valid proof. She should not be discussing this with family over turkey dinner.
Author shadowplay Posted November 28, 2008 Author Posted November 28, 2008 These sessions should be taped if there's any future concern for violation of ethics or whatever psyche professionals call it. The psychiatrist in question also deserves confidentiality. If she is of the position to take disciplinary action against this psychiatrist, then do so, with valid proof. She should not be discussing this with family over turkey dinner. She didn't give us the name of the psychiatrist either, so there wouldn't even be a way of us tracing him. Knowing the dynamics/politics of her hospital it is very unlikely that any of the psychiatrists in charge would agree to tape the sessions in the future or take any disciplinary action. She has very little power as a lowly female psychologist. She didn't bring up the story casually at the table. I overheard her asking my father for his opinion and asked her what they were talking about. I see absolutely nothing wrong with what my mother did, and I can't believe I'm defending her on this. She has always been extremely ethical, professional and conscientious in her work and gets rave reviews from all of her patients. If you don't believe my story then that's fine with me.
Trialbyfire Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 My mother is a psychologist and heads a psychotherapy unit at this mental hospital, which is one of the best in the country. A big name psychiatrist joined their hospital a year ago and everyone (except her) is in awe of him. I got the impression that she was his superior, from this excerpt of your opening post. I'm uncertain why this was necessary to include since it has no impact on the story itself. If she's lower down the food chain, then this changes things, since she would be drawing conclusions not necessarily from confidential sources but from what people have gossiped about. I don't know what the ethics requirements would be in this situation. I was looking at it from a top-down perspective.
amaysngrace Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 if one wants talk therapy you'll need a psychologist, but s/he can't give you any meds That's the beauty of it. You actually find a solution to your problem by talking it out instead of taking a pill and drifting off to la-la land. When the meds wear off the problem still remains. The only ones psychiatrists are good for are the severly imbalanced who need to have chemicals in their brains to function properly. Short of that they serve no real purpose in my opinion. Why they do group therapy is beyond me.
Author shadowplay Posted November 28, 2008 Author Posted November 28, 2008 I got the impression that she was his superior, from this excerpt of your opening post. I'm uncertain why this was necessary to include since it has no impact on the story itself. If she's lower down the food chain, then this changes things, since she would be drawing conclusions not necessarily from confidential sources but from what people have gossiped about. I don't know what the ethics requirements would be in this situation. I was looking at it from a top-down perspective. She heads a geriatric psychotherapy unit, but he has a higher position (not sure what it is). The reports she heard were from several patients who were in the group as well as her colleagues that they had complained to. They all independently reported the same thing, so I doubt there was any conspiracy to exaggerate.
Trialbyfire Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 She heads a geriatric psychotherapy unit, but he has a higher position (not sure what it is). The reports she heard were from several patients who were in the group as well as her colleagues that they had complained to. They all independently reported the same thing, so I doubt there was any conspiracy to exaggerate. Conspiracy? Where did that come from? How often can patients properly assess therapeutic methodologies? All they're going to do is to think how awful they would personally feel if that particular comment were directed at them. What they wouldn't be aware of is the past history of their fellow patients and also what this psychiatrist is trying to accomplish. Maybe he was having an abusive moment. Who knows. I won't judge a top tier professional from office gossip.
alphamale Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 The only ones psychiatrists are good for are the severly imbalanced who need to have chemicals in their brains to function properly. theres more people in that category than you think...
amaysngrace Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 theres more people in that category than you think... Evidently.
blair08 Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 The bad thing is the ones are who like that, make it bad for the ones out there who are not like that. I have seen so many people dis and hate psychiatrists who actually do know things, and even how to talk to people. They are deemed know it alls. I totally disagree with the psyhciatrist at your moms hospital, and yes there are some out there who are cruel just like some doctors and lawyers etc, but not all are like him or know it alls.
EnigmaXOXO Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 She should not be discussing this with family over turkey dinner. Shoot. I got a similar earful from my would be sister-in-law over the pumpkin pie. She works for a state licensing board and is often called to testify in the behalf of the government when some of these so-called psychiatrists are brought up for review. The majority of the ethic cases she sees are psychiatrists who misuse their authority to sexually molest and abuse their patients. One more recent story she shared was about a married couple (both psychiatrists) who worked primarily with people who had been sexually abused as children. This couple insisted that their patients wear butt-plugs (whatever they are? ) to their sessions ... telling their patients that it would help to “bond” them to their therapists and insure that they kept returning for treatment. She said the wife was clearly the one who wore the pants in this sick little practice, and very angrily defended her position, education and methods for treatment ... while the husband was so embarrassed he finally broke down and cried, apologizing profusely to the board. Unfortunately, she said there is only enough time and personnel to review 5% of the malpractice cases reported every year. It’s sad that when things like this happen that MORE people don’t take the initiative to report it to the proper authorities so we can remove these wackjobs before they injure more people. There are good psychiatrists out there, but unfortunately the bad ones just make the rest look bad.
Ariadne Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 I won't judge a top tier professional from office gossip. (Bow to the psychiatrist) But yeah, who knows what happened shadow. People are really sensitive and if you say whatever they overeact. And stories get written in million ways.
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