would you judge your shrink by his patients?

long ago i spent a good four years in therapy for anger management and other various twisted mind crap ingrated by those who raised me. i think tho.. if i had a serious sort of psychological deficiency.. id want a shrink that had dealt with the big stuff. ya know.. serial killers, mass rapists, and the like. theyd have the experience under their belts to actually be able to deal with whatever i had goin on. lol

I think that's true. If a shrink's patient is not completely well then that will definitely tell you that that shrink is not doing his/her job right. Try to look for one that has lots of patients that are well.

Well, it depends on what you are needing...and on what you are calling a "shrink"... A psychiatrist is a medical doctor with a residency in psychiatry and his or her primary job is often to prescribe medications... For an MD like that not to have people who do not improve that much at times would be miraculous as the course of mental illness fluctuates and as the medications need to be adjusted to improve the condition... and this process sometimes takes some time. The ones that focus on being change agents for behavior primarily through counseling are: the psychologists who do lots of testing, assessments and therapy but normally do not prescribe medications. the Licensed Clinical Social Workers (often experts in social relations and group relations) the Licensed Mariage and Family Therapists (who see problems as occurring in the context of a family system whether that family system is a work family or a primary family.) For those who are needing medication, counseling normally should be paired with the medication to increase its effectiveness and to help bring about lasting change. We do not know what this woman was receiving... whether medication or counseling or both... nor do we know how bad she was prior to starting therapy and what she is really going to therapy for ... Whether it is just to talk about her problems or to actually work on solving them. The course of therapy is dependent on these factors. You should interview the therapist on the phone if you are curious about him or her, see if you can relate to him or her and then make an appointment... If you do not like the therapist after that appointment, go back to the insurance company and get someone else. I would not judge a "shrink" by his or her clients ... as a licensed marriage and family therapist, I can assure you that clients are individuals and that each client will relate to the therapist differently and improve or not due to their own efforts... As the therapist does not have the power to make the client do anything the client does not wish to do. As the old therapist joke goes... "How many therapists (MDs, Ph.ds, LCSWs, LMFTs, etc.) does it take to change a light bulb?" The answer: "One but the lightbulb has really got to want to change." The client must be willing and able to make progress and must have good circumstances to make progress... If a client is not properly medicated who needs it, has unstable surroundings, no primary supports, unsatisfying work, etc. then the progress will be slower and no therapist will be able to speed it up until the client is able to change the circumstances. Good luck to you in your search for a "shrink".

That's an interesting question, moon! I believe that most psychiatrists and psychologists NEED their own psychiatrists and psychologists. I've gone to a few throughout my lifetime because of some serious personal problems and I have to say that the majority of them seemed to have more problems than I did! I took my oldest son to a psychologist a few times when he was in the 5th grade because his grades suddenly dropped dramatically. I mean, this kid was in the GATE (Gifted And Talented Education) program at one point, but his grades dropped so suddenly that I was very concerned. (It turned out that his problem was really about my ex-husband whom I was married to at the time.) BUT, each time I took him, I was constantly staring at the psychologist's ears. I know that sounds strange, but they stuck out and every time he spoke, his ears would wiggle. How can you listen to someone intently when you can't take your eyes off of their wiggling ears?!? LOL THAT doctor should have gone into research and not dealing directly with patients! I don't know about judging a shrink by his patients, though. If those messed-up patients said their psychiatrist was great, then that doctor might be worth looking into because you really can't judge the 'cure' by the 'symptoms' since everyone is different, right? However, I don't think I'd want to be sitting in a shrink's waiting room with some of these totally screwed up people... you never know what they might do! But, once again, you've raised a very interesting question! If the doctor were any good, why isn't the patient getting better? Hmmm...

I would the same way you would judge an automobile mechanic by the cars they've worked on that you see on the road. If the majority of the cars are still considered junkers, the mechanics aren't that good. If the majority of the patients are still basket cases, the head thumper really should be in another line of work.

No I wouldn't. You'd have to be sadly mistaken to think that every patient is supposed to come out of the psychiatrist office miraculousy "normal".Mental illness is not as simple as a bandaid on a booboo that goes away after a week.Its up to the patients to take their meds if needed and follow dr instructions. The only way you can get to know how a shrink is would be to speak with them personally.There are good ones and some that are only concerned with your money.

I think that each person is different and that even if the dr can help one patient a different patient could be more difficult or even have personality conflicts. I dont think what he does for one patient would reflect on what he or she would do for you. However if you knew several patients you could ask how the dr goes about treating them and see if he treats them all the same or treats patients on a case by case basis. Or ask the dr themselves. I think allowing the kind of dependancy you mention would be a tad detrimental to the treatment but what works for one peron might not work for me.

no it would not even occur to me to judge my therapist based on his/her other patients. it has nothing to do with the therapist. each individual has his or her own set of problems and the therapist is there to help them not to judge them nor for her other patients to judge. if my therapist is good with me one on one that is the only thing i would judge him or her on.