Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Great Debates
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-03-2009, 03:22 PM
 
Location: Albuquerque
244 posts, read 298,181 times
Reputation: 170

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by artsyguy View Post
Is psychotherapy useless?

After all the cases and books I've read of disappointed clients and unethical therapists and counselors I've come to my conclusion that psychotherapy and psychology is virtually useless.

Your thoughts....let's be for real.
For starters I wonder how many books you have actually read that are not novels. This is not to say that I do not agree with you, however.

I remember going through school and knowing the answers too often before asking people who said they were either going through "business" majors (guys without a clue), or "psychology" (girls who thought watching soap operas and knowing the outcome qualified them). Yes, I am sorry for the massive generalization. But if I had not met so many girls that fit this description then I would never stick my neck out like this.

As a result of dating women who thought of themselves as "intuitive" and extremely sensitive to "relationships", I lost my faith in psychology. I dated a woman for almost four years who had many, many problems, stemming from unrealistic and just plain bad parenting. She wanted to become a psychologist so she could fix her own problems. I have since met many women like this. It scares me to think of how many messed up people think they can fix themselves by learning how screwed up other people are.

I remember vividly agreeing to marriage counseling after much trepidation. However, you have to travel all paths before you can say you have tried. So there I was sitting in the waiting room, hopeful and satisfied that I could put my prejudices aside and do the right thing. My wife was also an aspiring psychologist, by the way. She had persuaded me that no matter what happened it would be good to get certain things out in the open - that simply by admitting them to a third party that we could begin to have a dialogue.

I like logic and this made sense to me. We were living in San Francisco and the office was in a beautiful flat in Pacific Heights, transformed into a doctor's office - we had very good insurance. I had no interest in reading magazines while I waited because I wanted to look around. It was then that I noticed that there were little flecks of dirt around the walls of the waiting room. I didn't pay them much attention until I used the restroom just off the waiting room. While in the men's stalls I noticed that the little flecks of dirt were actually choice pickings from someone's notstrils. It was a disgusting revelation. I went back to my wife and told her about it, and we confirmed the nasty truth in the waiting room - it was full of someone's nose waste. We actually laughed and wondered why someone hadn't cleaned it up.

Then we were called into the office and met our therapist. He was dressed in casual but well put together clothing - more casual than clinical. Then it happened. He was directly talking to me when he put his thumb into his nose and dug deep. Now I have met people over the years who have done this and I simply don't talk to them again. It's mind boggling to think that someone doesn't think about what they are doing. But this guy picked his nose two more times as we spoke.

All I could think about for an hour is that I had shaken the guy's hand. And to make matters worse, he rubbed his fingers together to rid himself of his own dirt. I couldn't wait to get out of there. Of course there was no way to prove that it was his mucus all over his office, but who cares? Who picks their nose five feet in front of another person, especially when you are the one who is supposed to be giving advice about why I needed to deal with personal issues?

That being said, years after my divorce I figured out why Psychologists are useful, no matter how screwed up some of them can be. They have access to a real database of problems that many of us face every day but have little perspective of how to deal with. It's like if you fixed cars for a living and people came to you to ask advice about sounds and fluids that came from their engines. Chances are that you have been a part of fixing similar problems and know how to address the issue. But overall, if you don't give yourself to the textbook reasoning of your therapist then you shouldn't spend the money. There is a history of casework that can assist people, and it's not like the database online where you can diagnose yourself. If you get the wrong clinician, you may be taking some chances, but you won't know until you try.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-03-2009, 04:01 PM
 
25,157 posts, read 53,853,425 times
Reputation: 7058
Psychiatry is why there are more "disorders" according to these researchers:


YouTube - Psychiatry Exposed!


Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam View Post
I don't know why we have to add to that by making whole groups of "normal" people "sick."
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-03-2009, 04:04 PM
 
25,157 posts, read 53,853,425 times
Reputation: 7058
Gross! Your story is freaky.

Quote:
Originally Posted by manquaman View Post
For starters I wonder how many books you have actually read that are not novels. This is not to say that I do not agree with you, however.

I remember going through school and knowing the answers too often before asking people who said they were either going through "business" majors (guys without a clue), or "psychology" (girls who thought watching soap operas and knowing the outcome qualified them). Yes, I am sorry for the massive generalization. But if I had not met so many girls that fit this description then I would never stick my neck out like this.

As a result of dating women who thought of themselves as "intuitive" and extremely sensitive to "relationships", I lost my faith in psychology. I dated a woman for almost four years who had many, many problems, stemming from unrealistic and just plain bad parenting. She wanted to become a psychologist so she could fix her own problems. I have since met many women like this. It scares me to think of how many messed up people think they can fix themselves by learning how screwed up other people are.

I remember vividly agreeing to marriage counseling after much trepidation. However, you have to travel all paths before you can say you have tried. So there I was sitting in the waiting room, hopeful and satisfied that I could put my prejudices aside and do the right thing. My wife was also an aspiring psychologist, by the way. She had persuaded me that no matter what happened it would be good to get certain things out in the open - that simply by admitting them to a third party that we could begin to have a dialogue.

I like logic and this made sense to me. We were living in San Francisco and the office was in a beautiful flat in Pacific Heights, transformed into a doctor's office - we had very good insurance. I had no interest in reading magazines while I waited because I wanted to look around. It was then that I noticed that there were little flecks of dirt around the walls of the waiting room. I didn't pay them much attention until I used the restroom just off the waiting room. While in the men's stalls I noticed that the little flecks of dirt were actually choice pickings from someone's notstrils. It was a disgusting revelation. I went back to my wife and told her about it, and we confirmed the nasty truth in the waiting room - it was full of someone's nose waste. We actually laughed and wondered why someone hadn't cleaned it up.

Then we were called into the office and met our therapist. He was dressed in casual but well put together clothing - more casual than clinical. Then it happened. He was directly talking to me when he put his thumb into his nose and dug deep. Now I have met people over the years who have done this and I simply don't talk to them again. It's mind boggling to think that someone doesn't think about what they are doing. But this guy picked his nose two more times as we spoke.

All I could think about for an hour is that I had shaken the guy's hand. And to make matters worse, he rubbed his fingers together to rid himself of his own dirt. I couldn't wait to get out of there. Of course there was no way to prove that it was his mucus all over his office, but who cares? Who picks their nose five feet in front of another person, especially when you are the one who is supposed to be giving advice about why I needed to deal with personal issues?

That being said, years after my divorce I figured out why Psychologists are useful, no matter how screwed up some of them can be. They have access to a real database of problems that many of us face every day but have little perspective of how to deal with. It's like if you fixed cars for a living and people came to you to ask advice about sounds and fluids that came from their engines. Chances are that you have been a part of fixing similar problems and know how to address the issue. But overall, if you don't give yourself to the textbook reasoning of your therapist then you shouldn't spend the money. There is a history of casework that can assist people, and it's not like the database online where you can diagnose yourself. If you get the wrong clinician, you may be taking some chances, but you won't know until you try.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-03-2009, 10:08 PM
 
Location: Under a bridge.
3,196 posts, read 5,382,570 times
Reputation: 982
Quote:
Originally Posted by artsyguy View Post
Psychiatry is why there are more "disorders" according to these researchers:


YouTube - Psychiatry Exposed!
Are you related to Tom Cruise?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-03-2009, 10:18 PM
 
25,157 posts, read 53,853,425 times
Reputation: 7058
LOL that isn't nice to say !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dcashley View Post
Are you related to Tom Cruise?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-03-2009, 10:27 PM
 
Location: California
598 posts, read 2,070,886 times
Reputation: 461
Psychology is a science, and there are certain therapies which have higher efficacy rates (about 80%).

Therapy can not, however, treat all disorders. Say, for example, NPD.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-03-2009, 11:02 PM
 
Location: Nebraska
4,176 posts, read 10,662,293 times
Reputation: 9645
I have had friends who have been in psychotherapy. Rarely has it worked.

One SIL went to a 'therapist' who convinced her that she was one of theose "repressed memory" people. Wonnerful. This prompted a 2 AM call from her to tell me that my DH - along with his brothers, father, and mother - had sexually molested her from the time she was 2. She "thought I should know". It took five years and my FIL going thru criminal charges before - oh, gee, guess what, the memories were false. Charming. (I knew my DH well enough to know better, and told her to go bother other people - but she ruined a lot of other lives from that crap.)

One sweet young thang uses trips to psychatrists and emergency rooms to get people to feel sorry for her. Anytime she is about to be fired from her next job, or they come looking for her for her bounced checks, or her latest boyfriend is about to dump her - WHAM! another fake suicide attempt, another trip to the ER, another stay in another 'lifesaving' loony bin. They won't keep her once the insurance runs out - but by then she has gotten what she wanted. It's a collaboration between shrinks and folks like this, for the former to profit while the latter takes no responsibility for their actions... ever.

My ex and I were sent to a shrink (his church paid for it) to "save our marriage". After the usual PPP, the shrink took me into a seperate room. "I did NOT tell you this," he said, "And I'll never admit it - but if you do not get away from him soon, he will kill you." All the way through me kicking the ex out and the divorce he would not come forward - because the bill was being paid for by the church and they wanted him to "save our marriage" not give me a reason to leave!

Too many shrinks are too willing to give people excuses for not behaving responsibly, to take the money and bank it while pretending to be sagacious and wise - while their own lives and families fall apart. Are shrinks still the professional group with the highest number of suicides per capita? There's your answer - "first, remove the mote in your own eye". I'm a better shrink than any "professional" ones I've ever met - but then, I don't let people make excuses for their behavior, and they have to be honest if they talk to me, and expect the same in return. No candy coating or superior smiles here - and no fees, either.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-03-2009, 11:32 PM
 
9,912 posts, read 13,873,770 times
Reputation: 7330
Well my take is that psychotherapy and psychiatry, to my understanding, involves a medically qualified doctor who has then specialized in psychiatry and has the ability to prescribe medication, as well as other "medical" treatment such as shock therapy and a psychiatrist has the power to have you committed. A psychiatrist or psychotherapist would be useful if you are suffering more severe brain disorders like bi polar or schizophrenia or manic depression.

Psychology uses other methods in order for a person to resolve emotional trauma and low level depression, like hypnotherapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and relaxation techniques. A psychologist cannot prescribe medication, or prescribe or use the other medical treatments that a psychiatrist can.

I've been to both.

It became apparent fairly early on to me that I wasn't needing a psychiatrist and I didn't consider the types of treatments they would be able to offer to be of use to me. Granted the psychiatrist I did see was like a caricature from a bad B grade movie, so that probably didn't help!
I still parody him now!

I've been to several psychologists at different times in my life when I've had issues I wanted to resolve or learn to deal with more effectively and MOST of them I've found really helpful.
I've found much of what I've been taught to be really helpful in enabling me to assess where I'm at and how to move past any obstacles with the "tools" I have gained.

Initially I was intimidated and unable to discern if I was dealing with the right or wrong psychologist but eventually I learned how to "interview" them and choose who was right for me.

I have to say I don't think psychology is useless and psychiatry is not something I've needed, thankfully, but I do acknowledge that this isn't always the case for everyone.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-04-2009, 12:26 AM
 
25,157 posts, read 53,853,425 times
Reputation: 7058
No psychology is not a science.

Quote:
Originally Posted by itlchick View Post
Psychology is a science, and there are certain therapies which have higher efficacy rates (about 80%).

Therapy can not, however, treat all disorders. Say, for example, NPD.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-04-2009, 12:38 AM
 
Location: Tucson/Nogales
23,130 posts, read 28,869,286 times
Reputation: 32478
Psychology and Astrology, to me, are nothing more than fraternal twins, except one speaks English, the other Chinese. I've had my share of psychiatric sessions, but I have gained far more from Astrology, particularly from the Astrologers with a Psychology background who combine them both.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Great Debates

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:48 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top