Reidbord's Reflections

If I accused you of being a Martian…

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:09:15 +0000

Cross-posted from “Sacramento Street Psychiatry“.

In dynamic psychotherapy, patients often say how hurt and victimized they feel as a result of unkind judgments or criticisms by others:

“My coworker called me a hypocrite!”

“My mother told me I neglect her by not visiting enough.”

“My husband complains I’m too self-centered.”

Although sharing such complaints with a caring listener is basic [...]

Is your therapist biased by money?

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:10:16 +0000

Earlier this year, blog commenter TK wrote:

“Isn’t this the greatest countertransference, in this age of fee-for-service psychotherapy as opposed to psychotherapist-on-salary: How do I work around my own economic motivation in deciding whether to continue with a patient or terminate?

“In other words, how does one reconcile the consistent economic incentive to keep a client coming [...]

Bull in a china shop

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 00:41:11 +0000

Reposted from Sacramento Street Psychiatry.

Sometimes an unruly character disrupts the surrounding peace and quiet. Loud, gruff words and ill-considered behavior mar the scene. Onlookers cringe, awaiting the impending destruction. For this beastly fellow is bound to break something: wreck a friendship or relationship, make a workplace intolerable. All the worse if the setting harbors sensitive souls with feelings [...]

Psychiatric holds and refusal of medical treatment

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 08:24:35 +0000

I apologize for the stagnant blog of late. I’ve been working on an idea or two that hasn’t jelled yet. Meanwhile, I ran across a familiar yet troubling occurrence the other day: The use of a psychiatric hold on an inpatient with no psychiatric disorder but who was refusing life-saving medical treatment.

My comments are limited [...]

Carlat on mindless psychiatrists

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:17:23 +0000

My fellow psychiatrist and blogger Dr. Daniel Carlat has an article in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine. ”Mind Over Meds” is a memoir of Dr. Carlat’s growing realization that psychiatry can’t be done well in 15-20 minute medication visits, that talking to patients as people is important too.

I’m generally a fan of Dr. Carlat. [...]

Countertransference, an overview

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:26:49 +0000

I attended a very good lecture this week on contemporary views of countertransference. It inspired me to write a brief overview of the concept here, with more to follow.

To understand countertransference, it helps to tackle transference first. As I’ve discussed previously, transference was a word coined by Sigmund Freud to label the way patients “transfer” [...]

Would you trade years of life for happiness?

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:10:13 +0000

Cross-posted from “Sacramento Street Psychiatry“

The New York Times blog called “Well” recently asked: “Will Olympic Athletes Dope if They Know It Might Kill Them?” The answer is surprisingly clear: Many would if they could. In bi-annual surveys conducted from 1982 to 1995, researcher Bob Goldman asked elite athletes whether they would take a drug that guaranteed them a gold [...]

Does knowledge dilute the magic of therapy?

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:48:23 +0000

A reader named Kim wrote:

I do tend to be cerebral and look for stuff on the internet like this blog to try to get more insight into what my therapist is doing. I am curious, do you think this dilutes the “magic” of the therapy somewhat, or do you think it is helpful or both.

Good [...]

Sailing between support and insight in therapy

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:16:31 +0000

Cross-posted from “Sacramento Street Psychiatry“

For more than a decade I’ve taught a seminar in dynamic psychotherapy to psychiatry residents. One tricky issue that arises every year is the apparent choice between conducting a “supportive” psychotherapy, versus an “analytic” or “insight-oriented” one. I developed a sailing analogy to clarify this issue, and to teach [...]

My new blog on Psychology Today

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:39:53 +0000

I had planned to submit articles to Technorati on occasion, but they are seeking short, newsy pieces that are not a good fit for me. This led me to look for other places to write. I found that Psychology Today has an active group of mental health bloggers on its site. I joined up and [...]

Politics, religion, and ADHD meds

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:00:38 +0000

Cross-posted from Technorati with permission.

At a dinner meeting a couple of weeks ago I met two psychiatrists who work at Kaiser Permanente, the large HMO system that boasts a 24% health insurance market share in California. (This has nothing to do with my story really. I just think it’s amazing that a quarter of all [...]

My post on Technorati

Steven P Reidbord, MD — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:22:50 +0000

Technorati.com, the popular blog portal, recently invited bloggers to contribute to their newly revamped site. I signed up and submitted an article there, on ADHD medication. I’m happy to say it appeared on their site this morning, as the leading post in their “lifestyle” section. (I’m sure it will rotate out of [...]