Seeing a psychologist with a background in allied health care

[Krater]

I am looking to go to see a psychologist soon. My GP appointment is scheduled this week to formalise a mental health plan.

I am feeling apprehensive to see a psychologist as the past month I have been completing a mental health placement as part of my degree.

I have been trying to use appropriate interventions like breathing and mindfulness and exercise and diet and basically everything I have been recommending to other people. I feel like if I go to a psychologist I will be hyper aware of their clinical thinking and session plan as I have been a part of it myself.

the same thing happened when I spoke to my placement supervisor about being overwhelmed by my current situation. And she wasn’t lovely and receptive but told me exactly what I thought she would (to make sure to eat right, exercise, do something for stress relief each day and speak up if I am still feeling this way). I just don’t know how much more there is to offer.

has anyone experienced something like this or something similar to this? Any advice or reassurance is welcome.

[PamelaR]

Hello Krater and welcome to Beyond Blue.

Interesting situation for you. There's a lot of different methods psychologists use in their sessions. The breathing, exercise and good eating etc is your own self management program.

While psychologist often have a preferred method, if they are good will discuss with you the method they will use. For example- cognitive behavioural therapy, exposure therapy, hypnosis, behavioural therapy to name a few.

The counselling all takes times, effort and you'll probably get some homework to do.

you can find more info if you go to the BB homepage and look under the facts tab.

Hope this is of some use.

Kind regards

pamelar

[Doolhof]

Hi Krater,

I too welcome you to the forum and the community here.

It sounds to me that you know exactly what you do not want from the psychologist, so why not grab out pen and paper and write down what you do want and what you think will be helpful.

Do you want ideas on how to cope and manage better, or do you want to be able to talk the whole time and express everything that is bothering you?

If you have an idea of what you do want, you can guide the appointment in that fashion hopefully. Of course the first session is usually them asking a lot of questions to get to know you better.

I went in to one session with a list of things I wanted help to sort out. Having a plan can help.

Wishing you well in being able to receive the help and advice you are looking for.

Cheers from Dools

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Krater,

Thanks for your post. I’m not sure if you’re still struggling with this (or have seen one yet) but I’ll chip in just in case.

I can completely relate to what you’re going through. I’m studying counselling and have at times felt hyper-aware of some of the things that are being said. You start to hear the paraphrasing, summaries and advice as you know that it’s tried and tested.

But at the same time, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to help.

You can have all the mental health training in the world and still get benefit from seeing a therapist. The way I see it is that therapists and psychologists have learned tools. CBT might be one for example. But the way the therapist applies it is completely up to them. Everyone will bring their own flair to it; everyone will have seen different clients. No two therapists will ever be the same.

I know it sounds quirky but bear with me - I once read that seeing a psych can be like seeing the statue of David. You might see it from one angle (you know the mindfulness, breathing, exercise), but the therapist sees it from another angle (a different perspective, a different approach). Both are correct - it doesn’t change the statue; but yet having that different person can completely change the way we think.

I hope this helps a little!

[Krater]

Thanks so much to you all. I really appreciate all the advice.

I am going to write a list of things I do like as suggested and I'll use that to develop a plan at the first session.

It makes sense that everyone would apply things in different ways and I've read a lot about people taking a couple tries to find a psychologist that suits them as well.

I'm going to bear all this in mind and keep an open mind around this.

Thanks again everyone.

[Doolhof]

Hi Krater,

Great to hear from you again.

Just had another thought, the first session can be a little daunting answering a lot of questions about yourself, going back to your childhood, different memories and so on.

Getting down to the nitty gritty of your issues doesn't always start in the first session.

Another thing to remember, the psychologist is human too!

Cheers from Dools

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Krater,

It's great to hear back from you again. It sounds like you want to give it a go and I completely agree it's going to be helpful to have an open mind when seeing someone.

Feel free to let us know how it goes if you want to. I hope that you're a good fit!

[Jigsaw9]

Krater

Even if it is as you anticipate, i think the experience itself will be an eye opener for you. From your posts i can assume you studied something in the mental health field? This will give you an excellent insight on what it's like to be a patient.

Hope that helps