intensive psychotherapy
Feb. 2nd, 2002 01:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iamomOne of the staff psychiatrists at the teaching hospital at which B is currently a resident, gave a lecture today on his techniques of psychotherapy for certain kinds of patients with anxiety. These patients frequently present with observable physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, muscle tension, severe headaches, etc. This particular psychiatrist uses a psychotherapeutic approach so direct that he has helped to resolve all anxiety symptoms from severe cases in as few as 8 sessions.
He brought in some video footage from some of the more interesting cases - B said it was really interesting to watch. His basic premise is that people with this type of anxiety have a deeply-rooted rage that they have bottled up to such a degree that it presents with physical pain symptoms. In video of one patient's session, the psychiatrist probed his patient so hard with questions about what he was feeling right now that he broke down and said, "I hate you - I want to kill you!" After describing in detail what he wanted to do to the doctor (e.g. strangling him until he turned blue and died), his rage eventually gave way to tears and the uncovering of painful emotions about his son's drug abuse problems. That session was a cathartic one for the patient.
The psychiatrist didn't discuss his manner of follow-up with his patients after that initial breakdown (and that breakdown seems to occur in most of the patients at some point). I think his talent is for drilling down deeply and quickly to the source of the patient's anger and then rooting it out; someone perhaps with a gentler manner could be appropriate for helping to build the person back up again, I don't know.
Whatever the case, this doctor seems like a pretty no-nonsense kind of guy. His business is forcing people to live up to their own reality. Must be an interesting job. I wonder what he's like personally, and I wonder if his work affects how he interacts with certain people.
He brought in some video footage from some of the more interesting cases - B said it was really interesting to watch. His basic premise is that people with this type of anxiety have a deeply-rooted rage that they have bottled up to such a degree that it presents with physical pain symptoms. In video of one patient's session, the psychiatrist probed his patient so hard with questions about what he was feeling right now that he broke down and said, "I hate you - I want to kill you!" After describing in detail what he wanted to do to the doctor (e.g. strangling him until he turned blue and died), his rage eventually gave way to tears and the uncovering of painful emotions about his son's drug abuse problems. That session was a cathartic one for the patient.
The psychiatrist didn't discuss his manner of follow-up with his patients after that initial breakdown (and that breakdown seems to occur in most of the patients at some point). I think his talent is for drilling down deeply and quickly to the source of the patient's anger and then rooting it out; someone perhaps with a gentler manner could be appropriate for helping to build the person back up again, I don't know.
Whatever the case, this doctor seems like a pretty no-nonsense kind of guy. His business is forcing people to live up to their own reality. Must be an interesting job. I wonder what he's like personally, and I wonder if his work affects how he interacts with certain people.
