Friday thread

[Dazen]

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Does clinical work pickup or slow down for you during the holiday season? Probably population specific. Wasn't there some very old research about this with kids and inpatient units?

I'm currently doing practicum at a rural community health center and it tends to get very busy around the holidays, especially with walk-ins and crisis appointments. Many of our patients have more time flexibility around the holidays so it's easier for them to come in. Add in the additional stressors coming up (especially family tension and grief) and beginning of the snowy weather causing more medical accidents and we have our hands full.

In other news, I fell victim to the Steam autumn sale yet again so will likely be filling many of my free hours from the semester ending with random video games interspersed with paper writing.

 

[medium rare]

Does clinical work pickup or slow down for you during the holiday season? Probably population specific. Wasn't there some very old research about this with kids and inpatient units?

I am always busy but demand for services does get noticeably more intense over the holidays. Generally, Labor Day through December is a very busy time. I used to get a bit of a slow down after the first of the year, but the last several years have stayed busy. My cancellation list just gets a little thinner.

 

[medium rare]

Fortunate to have been able to snag the 170-piece Le Creuset Ultimate Cookware Set from Costco. Set me back a pretty penny but well worth it. Looking forward to unpacking that this weekend.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

Fortunate to have been able to snag the 170-piece Le Creuset Ultimate Cookware Set from Costco. Set me back a pretty penny but well worth it. Looking forward to unpacking that this weekend.

This one?

https://www.costco.com/le-creuset-marseille-170-piece-ultimate-cookware-set.product.4000302077.html

 

[medium rare]

This one?

https://www.costco.com/le-creuset-marseille-170-piece-ultimate-cookware-set.product.4000302077.html

Yep, that one.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Does clinical work pickup or slow down for you during the holiday season? Probably population specific. Wasn't there some very old research about this with kids and inpatient units?

I feel like I have fewer people wanting to get in, but the people who I do see are more distressed.

 

[Sanman]

Fortunate to have been able to snag the 170-piece Le Creuset Ultimate Cookware Set from Costco. Set me back a pretty penny but well worth it. Looking forward to unpacking that this weekend.

Love my Le Creuset cast iron skillet but 170 pieces is a lot. Not sure I could use all of that.

 

[Sanman]

Does clinical work pickup or slow down for you during the holiday season? Probably population specific. Wasn't there some very old research about this with kids and inpatient units?

Depends on the population. Low to medium acuity and higher ses usually go down as people travel and vacation at that time. Lower SES a d substance abuse usually increase as you see a lot isolation and family discord/dysfunction play out. A lot these issues are tied to money, which does in fact buy happiness.

 

[R. Matey]

I got an offer this morning to republish one of my articles in HIGH-QUALITY journal.

Notoriety, here I come!

 

[Shiori]

Who are y'all following on Bluesky? Eiko Fried is always an instant follow anywhere I go.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Higher SES population here and we slow down over the holidays. So much so that I just close the whole office down from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

I got an offer this morning to republish one of my articles in HIGH-QUALITY journal.

Notoriety, here I come!

"The truth shall set you free..." (but it's gonna piss a LOT of people off)

 

[medium rare]

Higher SES population here and we slow down over the holidays. So much so that I just close the whole office down from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day.

I do the same.

 

[Sanman]

Higher SES population here and we slow down over the holidays. So much so that I just close the whole office down from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day.

The older I get, the more things like this matter to me. Horse trading for days off is really for the birds.

 

[Sanman]

 

[R. Matey]

I'm in the process of repealing and replacing my backyard, but it's done enough for the Easter egg hunt this weekend. Looking forward to that.

 

[WisNeuro]

I'm in the process of repealing and replacing my backyard, but it's done enough for the Easter egg hunt this weekend. Looking forward to that.

My backyard is a concept of a plan at this point.

 

[medium rare]

Three hour meeting with our architect today. In full on decision paralysis mode at this point.

 

[Shiori]

I have my first private practice clients! I feel like a big kid now.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

I have my first private practice clients! I feel like a big kid now.

Welcome to the dark side…. 🙂

 

[PsyDr]

Having happy hour with a bunch of my ortho buddies this weekend.

 

[Dazen]

Our semester ended this past week and I have choir concerts this weekend. It’s weird realizing that next year will be my last season of choir, since I’ll be applying to internship in the fall. It put into perspective how much of a life I’ve built here over the past four years

 

[borne_before]

Well, today’s my last day on contract as the clinic closes. I’ve got a few months off before starting a new role at an academic medical center in the fall. First up: two weeks of stay-at-home dad life before school starts.

It’s also my youngest’s last day at the daycare my older kid went to. I’ve been doing drop-offs there for seven years straight. Kind of wild to close that chapter. Next year, both kids will be at the same school, which is exciting in its own right. Extremely grateful for the caring early childhood professionals in my life. I remember someone on this forum talking about alloparenting when I was feeling daycare guilt—how it’s a valid and evolutionarily normal strategy. That really stuck with me. It takes a village, and I’ve learned to be okay with that.

After 27 years of putting in for it, my wife’s uncle drew a once-in-a-lifetime public land buffalo tag, and I’m going to help out on the hunt. For perspective: my brother pulled the same tag a few years ago-right in the middle of a divorce. I told him, “You’ll get married again someday. You’re not drawing this tag twice.” Maybe I'll pick up an over the counter bear and mountain lion tag, just in case. I’m hoping to spend this time doing absolutely nothing psychology related. Just be a person for a bit.

Not gonna lie, it’s tempting to go full “F you, F you, you’re cool” when I turn in my badge and keys. It’s easy to feel like a victim of circumstance during transitions like this, but honestly, I feel lucky. I’ve got time, options, and a solid support network. The next role will be a big lift, but I’m excited. And if it doesn’t vibe, there are always other paths.

Thankful for this forum. Except for WisNeuro, Y'all were super supportive.

Feeling grateful, and ready to exhale a little.

 

[WisNeuro]

Not gonna lie, it’s tempting to go full “F you, F you, you’re cool” when I turn in my badge and keys. It’s easy to feel like a victim of circumstance during transitions like this, but honestly, I feel lucky. I’ve got time, options, and a solid support network. The next role will be a big lift, but I’m excited. And if it doesn’t vibe, there are always other paths.

Thankful for this forum. Y'all were super supportive.

Feeling grateful, and ready to exhale a little.

You take that back, you son of a bitch!

 

[borne_before]

You take that back, you son of a bitch!

Amended original post 🙂

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

haha, fair enough.

So far I've cleaned off my desk and updated my out-pt list (trying to plan a vacation later this fall and I need to pick a couple weeks ASAP) instead of finishing this report and doing billing before I call it a day. I just re-started and got STAT page'd…nary a week I don't get paged after 3pm with something that probably could have been addressed earlier and no one told me.

9+ yrs later and I’m still wishing I left academia sooner. Good reminder.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

One of my closest friends started talking about this "great" new therapist she is seeing (she lives in another state.) She was all excited after her first two sessions and talked about how they were going to do some assessment to get diagnostic clarity on her neurodivergence. Cool. Does she have a website? Friend sends me the website. Ughhhhh. So many red flags. First she is an LPC, so I am skeptical about what constitutes an assessment for her. She goes on to say she became an LPC due to her personal hx of mental illness. Elsewhere on the internet I found that she describes herself as, "ADHD, Autistic, Complex PTSD, Dyscalculia, Neurodivergent, OCD." She considers herself a specialist in just about everything (at around 30 yrs old,) including men's issues. She has a lengthy explanation on her FAQ of "why therapy is so expensive" and lists the costs of undergrad, master's degree, licensing fees, continuing education, etc. She also is on a website which is a listing of politically conservative therapists, which is interesting (but probably wouldn't be an issue for my friend.) I'm faced with the dilemma of giving my honest opinion or biding my time.

Needed to vent to those who would understand!

 

[PsychJustice]

One of my closest friends started talking about this "great" new therapist she is seeing (she lives in another state.) She was all excited after her first two sessions and talked about how they were going to do some assessment to get diagnostic clarity on her neurodivergence. Cool. Does she have a website? Friend sends me the website. Ughhhhh. So many red flags. First she is an LPC, so I am skeptical about what constitutes an assessment for her. She goes on to say she became an LPC due to her personal hx of mental illness. Elsewhere on the internet I found that she describes herself as, "ADHD, Autistic, Complex PTSD, Dyscalculia, Neurodivergent, OCD." She considers herself a specialist in just about everything (at around 30 yrs old,) including men's issues. She also is on a website which is a listing of politically conservative therapists, which is interesting (but probably wouldn't be an issue for my friend.) I'm faced with the dilemma of giving my honest opinion or biding my time.

Needed to vent to those who would understand!

These things pain me so much. I am always torn about if it's worth bringing up, and I mainly consider: 1) Are they seeking services for a serious psychiatric problem or just someone to "chat" about some personal issues in their life? 2) (which is dependent upon the answer to question 1), would the friend / family member be open to hearing my critique of these types of services/clinicians, or would it just be met with deaf ears.

I think some kind of education about evidence-based treatment / clinical competency is always important (maybe even ethically necessary). But I tread those waters carefully so as to not cause a rebound effect where they dig their heels in even harder in sticking with their clinician because they perceive the "feedback" as (for lack of a better phrase) ****ting on the other provider.

Either way - your dilemma is the worst. And ****ty providers are the worst.

 

[R. Matey]

Elsewhere on the internet I found that she describes herself as, "ADHD, Autistic, Complex PTSD, Dyscalculia, Neurodivergent, OCD." She considers herself a specialist in just about everything (at around 30 yrs old,) including men's issues.

Top expert-level interventions include (1) agreeing with everything a patient says, (2) angry rants about late stage capitalism (while collecting a large fee), (3) recommending reddit threads/tiktok for community support, (4) shadow/parts/somato work, (5) copious references to Peter Levine, Jonathan Shelder, Bessel van der Kolk, and Richard Schwartz, and (6) likely a crystal of some kind there just because.