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Just wanted to put up a note that I've found interns to be more helpful than actual licensed psychologists. Not to generalize, of course, but I've found the interns to be much more helpful for several reasons:
1. They seem more likely to respond to the fact that I have emetophobia, and not just try to put my fear into a box.
2. They are supervised, so it's not like they are flying blind, and they automatically have a colleague to bounce info off of.
3. They, in my experience, are more likely to let me decide the course of my treatment, while offering suggestions and advice.
4. The interns I have worked with seem much more compassionate than licensed psychologists.
5. At the office I go to, they're less expensive.
I'm positive there are also some great licensed psychologists out there too (like one of my old interns for example), but I've had more luck with Kiana and Bob (my intern therapists) than any other licensed therapist I've ever seen. And there's always a supervisor they can talk to if they run into a situation they don't know how to handle. The one downside of interns is that they don't stay interns forever (obviously), and they may move to a different office, etc. I lost one therapist that way, but the one I have now is even better. He tapes my sessions (with my written consent, of course), and uses them for class purposes, which I think is good, because the more people who are aware of this problem, the better.
So if treatment with a psychologist isn't an option for you because of cost, maybe an intern could help? Just my two (more like five) cents.
Update on my treatment: Finished step 3 on my exposure hierarchy today, moving on to step 4 tomorrow. Yippee!!!!!
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Wow! That's fantastic advice, kel, since money is so much an issue with therapy.
And I can totally imagine the interns putting all of their energy into doing well with clients since they are just starting out.
I'm a professor in training, and it's that way with beginning professors. The older professors will come in with the yellow notes that are thirty years old and work from those. The new professors will be so eager to do a good job that they will put a lot of work into each class preparation.
