How much do you trust your therapist and his/her assessment?

BombCat

Well-known member
(First of all, let me clarify that i have no intention of causing any upset, distrust, doubt between patients and therapists.)

Can therapists give wrong assessment of a patient's situation? If so, is there anyway to check? I seemed to have little faith of humans, including myself. Most likely, my skeptism and ill faith would impede progress of the therapy. What can i do?
 

Anonymous

Well-known member
i hope i understood what you're saying but if i did...

i feel like a wrong assessment is a possible thing but i wouldn't be able to tell how hard it woudl be to diagnose someone since i never have had to do it. i know i'm always afraid my my psychiatrist just "changing her mind" about me having SP but i know it's just my irrational thinking pattern of her thinking i'm lying or over-reacting.

i don't really like her anyway but that too is irrational because i go to her to talk about things i never talk about nor do i want to and to me she's just another person in the audience that is judging me and another person whose thoughts i care about.
 

solo1

Well-known member
I think the answer to this one really depends on a lot of different factors. One being, just how close are you to your therapist/counselor, and how much are you comfortable with telling them.. so... how much do they REALLY KNOW about you? Even if they do know a lot about you, has it made an impression and do they remember what it was at the next & future visits? A good therapist will remember things you tell them about yourself because although some of these revelations seem very insignificant to others, they are of upper most importance to us and SHOULD BE to our psychs as well!

Just because a person has gone to school and recieved a degree does not nessessarily make them quailfied, or knowledgeable. Remember, they READ about our and other's experiences and like everyone else, they can only TRY to IMAGINE what it would be like to experience the disorders and their symptoms that we have. Most always, they will 'go by the book' and treat us accordingly... let's face it, just as with medications, what will do miracles for some people will do damage to others. We are not all alike!!

I have been in and out of professionals offices since I was 17 & I'm almost 52 (YIKES!!) so I may not be any wiser, but I certainly have a little bit of experience! I will watch & analyse them just as much as they watch & analyse me, & after those few visits, if I am still not comfortable, if I'm confused, or unhappy about anything, I find someone new. It's that simple, & I've done it more than a few times. You should feel satisfied & hopeful with your visits. I learned that psychs watch your eyes & it has made me very uncomfortable.... I rarely look anyone in the eyes when I speak to them because of my phobias, this sorta-kinda makes them 'not there' & makes me ABLE to continue speaking---BUT---a professional has learned that when a patient doesn't look them in the eyes, they aren't telling the entire truth! I cleared this up with my present psych immediately, and I have been seeing her for over 2 years now, and I am so comfortable with her that I CAN look at her face, eyes, whenever I speak to her. :wink:

Bombcat.. I DO hope you can sort this all out. I wish you a lot of luck with what you are experiencing at the present with your therapist! Best of wishes to you!
 

Anonymous

Well-known member
There is no such thing as a wrong assignment. If you don't want to do it because you're afraid of doing it, it's good for you! If you WEREN'T concerned about whether or not the thing the therapist told you to do was good for you, you wouldn't have the problem that you have! (Read this sentence again.) The assumptions that lead you to the conclusion that it is a "bad" assignment are the very assumptions that make you sick. Someone who is well wouldn't think twice about doing the assignments that worry you. Capiche?
 

Anonymous

Well-known member
ASSESSMENT
as·sess·ment [ ə séssmənt ] (plural as·sess·ments)

noun

1. evaluation: a judgment about something based on an understanding of the situation
a fair assessment of the project

2. property valuation: a calculation of the value of something in order to know how much tax must be paid

3. amount calculated: an amount assessed, for example, on property

4. educational evaluation: a method of evaluating student performance and attainment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ASSIGNMENT
as·sign·ment [ ə snmənt ] (plural as·sign·ments)

noun

1. task: a specific task assigned or undertaken
All team members have received their assignments.

2. appointment: a position, duty, or job for which somebody is chosen
an assignment in Japan

3. law legal transfer document: a document, for example, a deed, that effects a legal transfer of rights

4. law legal transfer: the transfer of a right in or over property to another.
Also called assignation

CAPICHE???
 

Anonymous

Well-known member
If a teacher ASSIGNS incorrect homework, or study... they have scheduled a WRONG ASSIGNMENT.

If a psychiatrist assesses someone criminally insane to be mildy depressed, they have made a WRONG ASSESSMENT.

And.... it IS possible to make INCORRECT (or WRONG) ASSIGNMENTS & ASSESSMENTS.

CAPICHE???
 

Anonymous

Well-known member
examples----

"O'Toole Says That COS Was Given Wrong Assignment"


Randal O'Toole has never been shy with his criticism of the Forest Service. Recently he criticized the NFMA Committee of Scientists' effort suggesting that they ought to have been charged to come up with an alternative to planning instead of just fixing the planning process. Below find an excerpt from his criticism. For the rest of the story see Emphasis on planning will not save the Forest Service, by Randal O'Toole, Special to The Denver Post 3/14/99

A review of the plans written during the 1980s reveals that nearly all of them attempted to lock the agency into outmoded policies and methods of management. In a report due out soon, a committee of scientists appointed by the secretary of agriculture recommends that the Forest Service undertake another round of planning. Only this time, says the committee, plans should be written for watersheds, not national forests. Somehow, this change in boundaries will magically make planners' predictions more accurate and put them in touch with both public opinion and management needs.
In another momentous change, the committee of scientists changes the term "sustained yield" to "sustainability." "Multiple use" becomes "a wide variety of uses." "Public involvement" becomes "a collective vision of the future." For good measure, why don't we wave a wand and say "abracadabra"? Without magic, the committee's recommendations will not suddenly make forests more efficient, get interest groups to cooperate, or persuade Congress to unleash money to an unproductive Forest Service. The secretary of agriculture gave the panel the wrong assignment. The question should have been, "What do we do now that we know planning does not work?" Randal O'Toole
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Even when the diagnosis of Lyme disease is clear, optimal treatment of these depressive symptoms is uncertain because in many patients the symptoms persist even after the standard 3 week course of antibiotics. While some doctors feel that depressive syptoms in the context of Lyme disease are evidence of continued disseminated infection, others believe that these represent a secondary emotional response to having a serious illness. Appropriate treatment if the former is true would consist of further antibiotics, which if the latter is true psychotherapy and/or anti depressant therapy would be the treatment of choice.

Delayed additional antibiotic treatment due to an incorrect assessment of the disease process may enable an acute illness to develop into a chronic one.
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Well meaning guest... (Read these last 3 posts as many times as it takes.) :wink:

I obtained my information from statistics, and Encarta. Can you tell us where you obtained your's?
 
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