Lynne S. Gots, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Plato and Sartre and Kant . . .Oh, My!
By Lynne Gots, posted on August 24th, 2011.
https://www.complexbuilders.com You know the iconic sculpture, Rodin’s The Thinker? Man pondering, hunched over, chin resting on fist. Angst personified.
That’s what came to mind when I read about a new (but, really, old) type of therapy called philosophical counseling. Out-of-work philosophy PhDs who lack marketable skills are retooling themselves as therapists to help people cope with problems of living—garden variety crises like losing a job, getting divorced, or entering midlife. The idea is that these folks can benefit more from the wisdom of the ages than from working with a mental health professional. True for some, maybe, but still disturbing.
My hackles aren’t raised because I sense a threat to my turf. With only 300 certified philosophical counselors in the world, the field isn’t about to encroach on my profession. And don’t think I’m not open to alternative treatments. If it has a sound, research-tested track record, then I’m all for using any method that works. But this approach seems naïve at best; it could even cause significant harm if a practitioner– with only a three-day course required for certification—failed to recognize the signs of a more serious psychiatric problem.
Sure, we can all stand to heed the advice of the sages and put our modern-day worries into a broader perspective. But if you’re choosing a therapeutic approach, stick with a well-trained professional and evidence-based practice. That’s not philosophy, just good common sense.
Tags: philosophical counseling
Posted in General |
I Felt the Earth Move Under My Feet . . .
By Lynne Gots, posted on August 23rd, 2011.
Today something happened that I never thought I’d experience in Washington, DC: an earthquake. I was in my office with a patient when we heard a rumbling above us. Thunder? But then the room started to vibrate, lights flickered, and a large mirror crashed off the ledge. We hightailed it out of there down seven flights of stairs.
Never having lived on the West Coast, where, I’m told, an event of this magnitude (5.8 on the Richter Scale) barely gets noticed, I felt pretty shaky. I didn’t know what precautions to take. Was it safe to go back into the building? What about aftershocks? Nobody else on the street seemed to have a clue about what to do, either. Worse yet, there was no cell phone service, and no authorities to instruct us on proper earthquake protocol.
It turned out to be an interesting opportunity to observe how people put their personal spin on an ambiguous occurrence. I overheard several bystanders speculating that there had been a terrorist attack. Not an implausible explanation given that my office is only eight blocks from the White House, but not the first one to pop into my mind.
Twenty miles away in his home office, my husband saw the walls shake and jumped to his own conclusions. He immediately assumed that the incompetent contractors who had renovated our house were even worse than we’d thought, and our addition was collapsing. What a relief when he found out it was only an earthquake.
Posted in General |
Death is a Pre-existing Condition
By Lynne Gots, posted on August 9th, 2011.
After reading my last post about mental health exclusions in travel insurance policies, a colleague told me his insurance story.
His 20th wedding anniversary was coming up in six months, and he wanted to surprise his wife with a getaway. But he felt uneasy about making any plans too far in advance because his mother had just completed chemotherapy. She urged him to buy the tickets and even insisted on paying for the trip as an anniversary present. So he booked an air and land package for six days in London and took out a trip cancellation policy, just in case.
Two months before the scheduled London trip, his mother went back to the doctor for a follow-up and learned that the cancer had spread. He cancelled the trip. His mother died six weeks later.
The insurance company refused reimbursement for the cancelled trip because his mother died from a condition that predated the terms of the agreement.
The dying woman had the right idea: Don’t put off doing things you want to do because something might happen. It’s a shame the insurance company didn’t see it that way.
But, lesson learned. In honor of his mother’s memory and because he knew she would have wanted him to go, my colleague booked another trip to London. This time he didn’t purchase travel insurance.
Posted in General |
