Therapy/Support for Psychiatrists?

[psych2b]

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Does there exist a support group for psychiatrists, once we're all in practice? I notice that several residency programs offer process groups or even psychoanlaytic psychotherapy for their residents, but I was more wondering about full-fledged practicing psychiatrists - other than the APA, which is the professional organization, is there generally a support group, or meditation group, or some group that encourages the general well-being of psychiatrists? Or maybe, psychotherapists? Or both?

If so, what are they called? I keep googling "psychiatrist group support" and the results are all for patients (led by psychiatrists).

(I'm writing a paper on it for my 4th year elective, but at the moment, coming up with zilch - the thought of writing something about the business side of psychiatry makes me want to poke my eyes out, so I was hoping for something more fun... but it has to be "non-clinical"... and ethics had been done to death... but if you have any "fun" ideas, please post those too! Thanks!) 😍

 

[nortomaso]

Does there exist a support group for psychiatrists, once we're all in practice? I notice that several residency programs offer process groups or even psychoanlaytic psychotherapy for their residents, but I was more wondering about full-fledged practicing psychiatrists - other than the APA, which is the professional organization, is there generally a support group, or meditation group, or some group that encourages the general well-being of psychiatrists? Or maybe, psychotherapists? Or both?

If so, what are they called? I keep googling "psychiatrist group support" and the results are all for patients (led by psychiatrists).

(I'm writing a paper on it for my 4th year elective, but at the moment, coming up with zilch - the thought of writing something about the business side of psychiatry makes me want to poke my eyes out, so I was hoping for something more fun... but it has to be "non-clinical"... and ethics had been done to death... but if you have any "fun" ideas, please post those too! Thanks!) 😍

Psych2b,

That's an interesting concept, but I'm wondering what the rationale for it would be. Usually support groups link people dealing with a common problem, and being a psychiatrist is-- I hope-- not a problem. What kinds of issues do you envision such a group dealing with? And as for personal issues unrelated to an individual's career, why do you think that a psychiatrist would benefit more from a group composed of other psychiatrists?

 

[LM02]

Psych2b,

That's an interesting concept, but I'm wondering what the rationale for it would be. Usually support groups link people dealing with a common problem, and being a psychiatrist is-- I hope-- not a problem. What kinds of issues do you envision such a group dealing with? And as for personal issues unrelated to an individual's career, why do you think that a psychiatrist would benefit more from a group composed of other psychiatrists?

It's not quite the same, but I know of a group of practicing psychologists who hold regular peer supervision meetings. Although the focus is primarily on talking through difficult/challenging issues surrounding current cases, it's also a nice way to stay connected to colleagues and to work through countertransference issues (even a CBT-oriented PhD like myself acknowledges the role of countertransference 😉 ). I imagine that one indirect effect of this kind of peer supervision is that practitioners give and get support from one another, which may help with burn-out.

Another model for this comes from DBT. It is strongly recommended that DBT practitioners hold regular peer supervision.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

(I'm writing a paper on it for my 4th year elective, but at the moment, coming up with zilch - the thought of writing something about the business side of psychiatry makes me want to poke my eyes out, so I was hoping for something more fun... but it has to be "non-clinical"... and ethics had been done to death... but if you have any "fun" ideas, please post those too! Thanks!) 😍

Portrayals of mental illness/psychiatry in cinema....

 

[watto]

Portrayals of mental illness/psychiatry in cinema....

Yeah there was a presentation on this at APA this year, you could probably download some of the references from their website--a good topic. 🙂