As a therapist, do you ever think you have failed a patient?
Failing suggests an either/or conclusion, like an exam. Life doesn’t work that way, except when it comes to life and death. That said, [...]
As a therapist in training, how do you start having therapy yourself if you don’t have any major issues that require treatment?
That’s an excellent question. One of the biggest misnomers about therapy is that you need a “major issue” to benefit from it. Therapy [...]
What is the first thing that a psychotherapist try to discover when you meet a new person?
I can’t speak for all psychotherapists, so I’ll speak for myself. When I meet a new patient the first think I want to [...]
As a psychotherapist, to what extent do you believe that people can really change their personality? I’m thinking of propensity for anger, vindictiveness, laziness, and flexibility to get along with others?
That’s a complicated question to answer, since it’s an impossible thing to quantify. The short answer is that if I did not believe [...]
What should I do if talking to a psychiatrist was of no help to me?
First let me clarify the difference between psychiatrists and psychotherapists. I don’t know the situation in other countries, but the vast majority of [...]
What are the pros and cons of disclosing personal information about yourself as a therapist?
Different therapists disclose to varying degrees, dependent on the modality of treatment and the individual personality of the clinician. I disclose very little [...]