I’m never going to get treatment...

[wallflower]

I know I banned myself from the forum a while back, but I have to share what happened to me today. I also posted this on oFear in the "Rants about Doctors" section.

Here goes:

Long post!

Cow cow cow.

My psychologist. Well, not “mine”. THE psychologist.

I started seeing her about two months ago; this was my second appointment.

Last time I told her about emetophobia and took along some info from http://www.emetophobia.org that my mum encouraged me to print out.

So this time she says, “Last time we talked about some of your checking behaviours...” (Blank stares from both of us for about two minutes straight; she has this thing where she makes a comment and expects me to say something else, when really she’s stating the obvious or jogging my memory.)
Me [eventually]: In terms of....? Checking dates on food and things like that?
Her [after about an hour!]: Yes. And you brought something in for me.
Me: Yes.
Her [reading through the emetophobia thing again]: Did you write this yourself?
Me [confused]: No.... I know there are some spelling mistakes in there, but it’s from a website.
Her [reading more, arrogant]: I don’t think “emetophobia” is even a word. Do you? Do you think it’s a word?
Me [growing instantly...completely...f*cking...furious and hurt]: I...don’t know, there’s certainly a lot of information –
Her: On this website.
Me: And on the Internet in general. And there are lots of people –
Her: Hmm.
Me: And I’m on several forums for people with emetophobia, so I don’t think –
Her: What kinds of forums?
Me: For people with emetophobia (!!), and some for just anxiety problems in general.
Her: Hmm.
[I talked about oFear and the IES forum, among others, and she maintained her condescending and snobby tone. Then she gave me my “homework”, which was to do with self-esteem issues.]
Her: So it’s okay for you to sit there and say you’ve done some research and you don’t think you have OCD and you “know” about anxiety and this problem you think you have, but now I want you to do this. Are you going to bother to do your homework?

Cow.

She also asked me at one point whether one of my hobbies was sitting at the computer looking up illnesses (mental/physical) I think I might have, implying that I log on to dodgy websites that are scams or hoaxes. Probably thinks I have an attitude problem and don’t want to be diagnosed with OCD or anorexia, so I made up emet to get attention. I think her problem is also that she’s so arrogant, she thinks that just because she hasn’t heard of something, means it must not exist.

The rest of the appointment just kept going downhill because I was so angry that whenever she asked me a question I couldn’t focus to answer properly, and then when she told me to think about it, I just replayed the phrase “I don’t think emetophobia is even a word” and got more angry and hurt to the point of tears. Then she thought I was upset over the questions she was asking.

I rather stupidly told her that I didn’t mind making another appointment, so I did, but there’s no way in hell I’m going back. I give up. Maybe there is no such f*cking thing. And if there is, I’m certainly not going to get any treatment for it in this country.

I understand that she may not have heard of it and that the page I printed may have looked a bit...fake...the way I formatted the text and with the few small spelling and punctuation mistakes. But....COW!

[sage]

Wallflower, I have to say I'm shocked to say the least. Did you give her MY stuff? (I sure hope not!) Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. I think that my info article looks very scholarly - it gives my name, qualifications, and also has proper footnotes to articles and books your psychologist should be familiar with such as the DSM-IV and Edmund Bourne. One article is from a very noted psychologist at Shaughnessy Hospital in Vancouver where they studied phobias for many years and had treatment programs for emetophobia (yes, using that word) as far back as 30 years ago.

So.......in short........this psychologist is and IDIOT!

If you gave her MY article and this is what she said then she's beyond an idiot. Nevertheless, her attitude is completely unacceptable.

But friend, please don't give up on help in all of Australia. I've corresponded with more than one person from there who got excellent care. Have a read of my other article on my website about how to find AND choose a therapist. I say basically that it can take several "interviews".

This woman's conduct is shocking. But not indicative of everyone in all Australia...honest.

PS - if you go back to her, I'll give you my name and number and she can phone me in Canada (COLLECT) and I'll speak with her. It wouldn't be the first time I've done that with someone's therapist!

[teh folder]

Get her the internet, and do it fast...

[wallflower]

Sage, it wasn't your information; it was from here: http://www.emetophobia.org/emetophob...20of%20vomitin g.asp
I'm surprised she didn't bother to do any more research; even if she hadn't any spare time - I've seen a lot of doctors through the same service and they all take an interest in my life and one jumps on the Net to look things up (like the breed of my pet bird, lol) at the drop of a hat!
I may go along again and take some more "scholarly" info, but I don't know if I can stand her anyway...

Edit: Sage, I'd never actually noticed the link to your site, and just had a look - it's brilliant. Thank you!!! If I don't take this to the psychologist, I'll take it to the paediatrician at the same clinic, who is much more understanding...Edited by: wallflower

[jkl81]

She's a therapist and accuses you of making up the 5th most common specific phobia??? What gives? There are some very good therapists out there but some cranks as well...you just happened upon a crank! Don't internalize it and feel bad about yourself this lady needs a reality check, the sooner the better.

[sage]

wallflower - glad you found my website. At one point, John was going to put my stuff up on this site on the main pages, and I was re-writing the main page for him...but then he ran off. He has a lot of sites to manage and such and you only have a small window to get him to change stuff on here - lol!

Anyway, glad you found it and now it's time to find someone who has the right personality for treating you. If your "verbatim" is accurate, then this woman is a MORON.

[andee]

That is just VERY sad that there are people in the psychological field like that...it also angers me...she should take a HUGE course in phobias, and how to communicate and show compassion for her clients. Hell, she should just have her license revoked.......idiot.

[rendil]

I agree with everyone else, I wouldn't give up. As common as it is, I think it's still a rather rare thing to see in the world of Psychology, and I think a lot of that has to with very few emets actually getting help.

I remember last semester in my Psych class my TA told us a story about a girl with emet on campus who actually went on to get help. Unlike other phobias or anxiety issues, she was not sent to the Counseling Center but to the Psych department itself because this was the first case of Emet they had ever had. You can imagine how shocked and surprised they were to discover that not only was this phobia real, but they had their very own case.

So, please please don't give up. As a Psych major, I don't agree with the way the psychologist went about this, and quite frankly she seems like an idiot who forgot to go to school for another 2-4 years upon graduation. Definitely go find someone else, there will be someone who can help you!

[paulinek]

Dump her and look for someone else immediately, i wouldn't give this stupid woman another penny.

If it were me, i wouldn't be able to just let it lie though, I'd have to write her a stinking letter explaining why i was never going back, print off Sage's stuff and enclose it (with her phone number!) and also this thread so she can see exactly what us people with this so called imaginary phobia think of her, grrr! [img]smileys/smilies_07.gif[/img]