Friday thread

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AbnormalPsych said:
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?
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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.
 
AbnormalPsych said:
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?
Click to expand...
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.
 
AbnormalPsych said:
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?
Click to expand...
I feel like I have fewer people wanting to get in, but the people who I do see are more distressed.
 
AbnormalPsych said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
Who are y'all following on Bluesky? Eiko Fried is always an instant follow anywhere I go.
 
smalltownpsych said:
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.
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The older I get, the more things like this matter to me. Horse trading for days off is really for the birds.
 
Abc Family Christmas GIF
 
R. Matey said:
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.
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My backyard is a concept of a plan at this point.
 
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
 
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.
 
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borne_before said:
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.
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You take that back, you son of a bitch!
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
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.
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9+ yrs later and I’m still wishing I left academia sooner. Good reminder.
 
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!
 
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Doctor Eliza said:
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!
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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.
 
Doctor Eliza said:
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.
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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.
 
Ending the week on a high note. I was notified of an interview invitation from a job I am very excited about. There was only one time slot next week that fit with my work schedule, and I jumped on it (otherwise I’d have to wait until end of the month). It’s a remote job, though the culture of the organization seems fantastic and just what I’m looking for. I will be able to do some outpatient and residential/inpatient work, with options down the line to work in-person at one of their locations if I desired to move out of state.

I had applied to another remote job earlier and that opportunity crashed and burned, thankfully. I found out that my would-be boss was… something else. Glad to have found that out over email rather than on day 1!

Those of you who know me from the VA thread, it is a non-VA job. If I get it, I might just do backflips down the hall and out the door after I turn in my PIV. :happy:
 
ccpsych16 said:
Ending the week on a high note. I was notified of an interview invitation from a job I am very excited about. There was only one time slot next week that fit with my work schedule, and I jumped on it (otherwise I’d have to wait until end of the month). It’s a remote job, though the culture of the organization seems fantastic and just what I’m looking for. I will be able to do some outpatient and residential/inpatient work, with options down the line to work in-person at one of their locations if I desired to move out of state.

I had applied to another remote job earlier and that opportunity crashed and burned, thankfully. I found out that my would-be boss was… something else. Glad to have found that out over email rather than on day 1!

Those of you who know me from the VA thread, it is a non-VA job. If I get it, I might just do backflips down the hall and out the door after I turn in my PIV. :happy:
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Good luck! That is exciting.

I started looking at some of our local group practices after my hour long commute turned into two hours twice this week. Between wear and tear on my car, gas, and time, it's starting to make more sense to take a relatively small pay cut for quality of life.
 
Pffft. People act like erotic transference is something new.

“Oh, there’s this man in a position of authority who listens to me and asks nothing of me. Why am I attracted to him?”

I saw a female colleague being stalked by an elderly female patient… for years. What About Bob is terrifying from a professional standpoint. Hide where you live. Maintain security.
 
I’m camping, which should be interesting. Telluride Jazz Fest. “Roughing it” for me is usually a hotel that doesn’t have 24hr room service and/or valet parking. I did just walk through a stream, which I hear in the background now, so that is pretty nice.
 
There are a lot of great videos of people explaining what has gone wrong in this situation. Some of my favorites are people with mental health diagnoses trying to save people from going down this path with her. The individuals with BPD are doing a lot of heavy lifting. I have seen some shout-outs to DBT that warm my heart.
 
cara susanna said:
Are there any written articles I can read about it? I'm not a fan of watching videos like this.
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There are lots of people writing about it, but it was around 20 videos of her own content when I checked last plus she goes live on TikTok regularly. Then there are countless response videos. It's hard to capture that well.

I think the biggest causes for discussion involve her fairly obvious misreading of the circumstances. She presented very innocuous behaviors as indicative of mutual attraction and exploitative behavior on the part of the psychiatrist. There is a psychologist as well, but that's a whole other thing.

She doxxed him pretty early on. She claims it was an accident, but expressed interest in anything someone found out about him.

She describes herself as an ADHD coach. Some folks are speculating that this is a way to generate attention to her platform to uplift herself and diminish more traditional mental health professionals.

There are arguments and discussions about the difference between NPD and BPD.

People are also trying to figure out how anyone has time to fall in love with their psychiatrist in the 15-30 minutes appointments.

There are a million little conversations happening, but those are the most interesting ones to me.
 
Someone made an AI video of her and the psychiatrist getting married. She shared it during her live and thanked the person for sharing.

I don't know if I have the therapy skills to handle this new world.

I forgot to mention Henry, her chatgpt friend who told her she was an oracle and totally right about everything. Then Henry turned on her and I believe she got a new chatbot.
 
Shiori said:
Someone made an AI video of her and the psychiatrist getting married. She shared it during her live and thanked the person for sharing.

I don't know if I have the therapy skills to handle this new world.

I forgot to mention Henry, her chatgpt friend who told her she was an oracle and totally right about everything. Then Henry turned on her and I believe she got a new chatbot.
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Every year that passes, I'm thinking more and more about how the Luddites may have been on to something...
 
Shiori said:
Someone made an AI video of her and the psychiatrist getting married. She shared it during her live and thanked the person for sharing.

I don't know if I have the therapy skills to handle this new world.

I forgot to mention Henry, her chatgpt friend who told her she was an oracle and totally right about everything. Then Henry turned on her and I believe she got a new chatbot.
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Jesus.
 
The latest piece I saw was someone claiming to be a therapist coming into her live. The "therapist" validated everything this individual was saying continuing to reinforce pretty icky stuff. Based on the sleuthing done by the community, it doesn't appear this person is actually licensed. I haven't fact-checked anything because I'm tired.

I'm also seeing an uncomfortable amount of commentary from actual licensed clinicians weighing in. Some are even offering their takes on diagnoses. It's worrying.
 
I was trying to figure out how to react to Shiori's post and it made me have this random thought: are social media reacts helping people learn to identify emotions?
 
cara susanna said:
I was trying to figure out how to react to Shiori's post and it made me have this random thought: are social media reacts helping people learn to identify emotions?
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Being in pediatrics, and consistently being fascinated by psychological research related to language, I have been thinking a bit about this over time. While it is not a direct answer to your musings, I have posted a link to an interesting JAMA article studying use of emojis amongst communication amongst medical clinicians:


of note, The authors statement on the emotional piece is quite interesting.

"While clinicians rarely used ideograms to refer to objects, events, or ideas (11 [7% of tokens]), these symbols nonetheless added at least some new information in the majority of instances (122 [71%]). Clinicians used ideograms most often to add emotive content to their texts (61%). In particular, they modulated the intensity of speech acts as in the message “just add flagyl for anaerobes and ditch the clinda! 🙂.” Because emotions are often conveyed through features of language not representable in standard orthographic format, the addition of this information through ideograms can provide important contextualization, evaluation, and disambiguation for the messages to which they are added."

In contrast, the following article, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1932296820965588

describes the endorsement from pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes suggested "some adolescents reflected on how support in the form of comments and likes felt superficial. Given that many members of their social media communities do not understand the burden of diabetes management, even positive responses could create feelings of alienation."

Either way, it's an interesting development over the past decade or so.
 
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