<p>A shrink is like a hooker, but instead of selling sex they sell friendship. </p>
<p>Basically they act as a perfect variant of a best friend, you can talk to them about anything and they wont get mad at you, they will always be on your side and they will never disclose any of your secrets unless its something which directly threatens other persons lives.</p>
<p>Their advice is just a bonus and the quality of them is really dependant on which shrink you go to.</p>
<p>So that you can sit there and think that he is giving you advice while he is not, he is just asking questions and rephazing your answers using his synonims in psychology. Then you pay him and he thinks, ah another idiot who pays me for listening…</p>
<p>I don’t get why all you guys think pscychologists are that stereotypical</p>
<p>in my Experience (then again my therapist is from Mexico, and in Mexico)</p>
<p>they are cool people, they listen, they give advice and rather talk and hang out just like a friend, lol, and my therapist is not expenseive really, 30 dollars for 2 hours and I don’t have to pay right there and then.</p>
<p>Anyways</p>
<p>Cognitive behavioral therapy is useful for people with serious OCD/BDD/anorexia
The rest is junk. </p>
<p>I prefer illegal drugs to therapy or medication.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure if seeing a therapist at your campus is a good idea. They’re probably not as qualified as a private therapist as you don’t pay anything to see them.”</p>
<p>Well, you pay to see them, through your tuition. Then again, they have a fixed salary and have no need to keep their “customers” satisfied.</p>
<p>"I’m not sure if seeing a therapist at your campus is a good idea. They’re probably not as qualified as a private therapist as you don’t pay anything to see them.
I went to a campus therapist and I ended up in the mental hospital over something that went way out of proportion. Now I’m mandated to see the guy because they want to make sure I’m not the next Cho Seung Hui. I think their only purpose is to screen people to make sure Virginia Tech won’t happen again. It wasn’t like I was violent, made threats or threw a tantrum. "</p>
<p>TA3021, are you serious? I mean, what did you tell the therapist? You must have told him/her something really serious if you ended up in a mental hospital. If you want to share your story I am more than willing to listen. Yes, I want to know what you did so I don’t make the same mistake if and when I go to see a shrink. Send me a PM if you don’t want to discuss this subject on a public forum.</p>
<p>The important thing to recognize is that there are good psychologists and there are bad psychologists. Part of it’s the psychologist him/herself, and part of it is just how you personally fit with them. A bad psychologist won’t be very effective, and very well could be just a waste of time. But, if you find a good psychologist for yourself, they can be immensely helpful. Besides having knowledge of therapy techniques/ways of improving problems, a good psychologist also knows how to steer the conversation, ask questions, etc. in such a way that he/she is able to help you develop a fuller picture of what’s going on in your mind and thereby come up with better solutions than talking to a friend probably could. </p>
<p>Also, I definitely suggest seeing a psychologist/therapist/etc. off campus as well. On campus counseling can be a good place to get a referral or such, but, for me at least, seeing an off campus psychologist would be a lot more comfortable. An off campus psychologist would still be obligated to tell somebody if they thought that you were going to seriously hurt somebody else or yourself, but I think that there’d be less overreacting out of fear.</p>
<p>Upsilamba, what do you have to say about 4321234’s experience?</p>
<p>"…i also felt like she was trying to find an excuse to explain my depressing behavior. ie: “do you or have you ever taken drugs”? I take a breath and say “no”. A few questions later, she comes back and says “when i asked if you took drugs, you hesitated. now, are you sure?” yeah… don’t go to one. "</p>
<p>I chuckled when I read her/his reply because I identify so much with everything he/she said. The psychologist I saw also did more harm than good.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>To make a long story short: [Intrusive</a> thoughts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusive_thoughts]Intrusive”>Intrusive thought - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Even though I didn’t know what was going on back then. They were just as confused and worried as I was which was stupid because they should know about these kind of things. The paradox of my problem is that I’m the last person to actually do such things.</p>
<p>There are two takes on the situation. If you believe the Brain can have disease and want to diagnose on the medical disease model then you see a psychiatrist. If you actually want scientific evidence and don’t believe the basis of mental disease on the disease model, due to its lack of scientific evidence then you see a psychologist.</p>
<p>Both are viable approaches, though conclusively Psychotherapy has shown to be greatly more effective than medication and Psychotherapy + Medication has shown to have a greater chance of relapse and is generally less effective than Psychotherapy alone. </p>
<p>Most campus offerings of Psychotherapy are done by Masters/PHD students of Psychology whom are overseen by a PHD. There is usually a Psychiatrist on call 1,2 or 3 times a week to prescribe medication and consult. If you go to a private university you tend to have much better facilities and people. If you go to a public school, keep in mind that these are government employees and government owned facilities. So there are certain things I would and would not talk about in this situation.</p>
<p>If you have obsessive thoughts, the best way to beat them is to get away from triggers and keep busy. Find a task or hobby that keeps you busy and requires critical thought. Puzzles, computer programming, math, etc. Stay away from things that allow your mind to wonder, like reading and chatting on im, web surfing. If you have trouble falling asleep, make sure you get physical activity before you go to bed and try to use up some energy and make yourself tired.</p>
<p>If you have any particular questions send me a pm.</p>
<p>Just to clear this up a bit… These are protected titles:</p>
<p>Psychologist – Ph.D. or Psy.D. req’d
Clinical Psychologist – Ph.D. or Psy.D. plus licensure (assessment expert, psychotherapy, research)
School Psychologist – MA/MS, Ed.D., Ph.D., or Psy.D. (school assessment)
Psychiatrist – MD plus psychiatric residency (med management primarily but also have limited training in psychotherapy)
Medical Psychologist – Clinical Psychologist licensure and req’ts plus MS in Psychopharmacology (all Clinical Psychologist privileges plus limited prescriptive privileges)</p>
<p>Pscychiatrist are funded on medical, clinical works on the brain</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>"If you have obsessive thoughts, the best way to beat them is to get away from triggers and keep busy. Find a task or hobby that keeps you busy and requires critical thought. Puzzles, computer programming, math, etc. Stay away from things that allow your mind to wonder, like reading and chatting on im, web surfing. "</p>
<p>lol. my mind always wanders when I read. I spend ridiculous amounts of time staring at a book page. I would do math, but that subject is frowned upon so I will need to find another activity.</p>
<p>“Psychiatrist – MD plus psychiatric residency (med management primarily but also have limited training in psychotherapy)”</p>
<p>Not necessarily; my training included a lot of psychotherapy and it remains a significant part of my practice. Prozac didn’t even hit the market until my last year of training.</p>
<p>“Medical Psychologist – Clinical Psychologist licensure and req’ts plus MS in Psychopharmacology (all Clinical Psychologist privileges plus limited prescriptive privileges)”</p>
<p>Hotly contested (by psychiatrists at least; title is misleading) and limited to certain states and settings)</p>