Bard, Forester, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapist?

About a week ago I became aware of a very hard truth. My wife has little understanding about what I do for a living. A fact that was punctuated by her comment that she thought the work Piaget did with dogs was fascinating, a statement, which would be similar to one saying “I enjoyed Garth Brook’s fifth symphony”. I must admit that I was impressed that she was aware of Jean Piaget, and Pavlov’s dogs, even if she mixed the two together. I often lament the fact that I never managed to talk her into taking any psychology when we were in school.

While I pondered this realization and what I could do to help my wife understand her husbands chosen career, it dawned on me that there might be many of my friends that do not understand what it is that I do. In fact I once received a letter from a friend that warned me of the dangers they felt were inherent in my chosen profession (of course they only touched the tip of the proverbial Iceberg) and admonished me to make sure I worked from the Lord's corner. (That’s not a direct quote, although I did consider digging out the letter just so that I could provide the exact quote.)

Much of this confusion I am going to blame on modern media. (So many other people blame social problems on the media, why can’t I?) I am often so frustrated with the way psychologists and counselors are portrayed on television that I change the channel when such a relevant scene is depicted. I admit that there is a possibility that there are mental health professionals that act in a manner that is congruent with what we so often see on television, but I am not one of them. Specifically I do not give advice, condone an amoral perspective of the world, fix a person’s entire problem with direct theatrical confrontation and a few wise sounding clichés, or spout platitudes such as “It’s all going to be all right”. I also have very little patience for those who could blame their behavior on genetics, or their upbringing.

I am primarily what many in my profession refer to as a Cognitive Behavioral therapist. (However I still have a lot to learn) Without going into a great amount of confusing detail I will state simply that I believe that an individual can chose what they think about, and what an individual chooses to think about affects the way they feel which in turn affects their behavior. So as corny as it sounds you are what you think about.

As an example if I were working with a client who had the prevailing thought “nobody loves me everybody hates me.” they could expect that they would have feelings of sadness, inadequacy, and rejection. I use this as an example because I believe most of us have met someone like this who we notice tends to behave by avoiding social interactions. In the common tongue we would say they have low self-esteem. To work with such an individual I would need to challenge the thought, even if they have good reason to think that way, and help them replace it with a more useful thought. For example a crude replacement could be, “Fred and George both like me”. (Good old reference for the Brazil branch youth if you were paying attention) Admittedly this is a very simplistic example but I think it helps describe the direction I work from.

I am currently an in-home therapist. Of course my business card says “Therapeutic Support Specialist”. I primarily work with children ages six to eighteen, however I do have a few adults on my caseload. The difficulties that my clients face often vary dramatically from as serious as being victims of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, to children who have trouble finding acceptance among their peers. I also have an interest in doing some work on the side for LDS Family Services, and will likley do so after I have completed my licensure.

I have found that I have a talent for this line of work. This surprises me as I always saw myself Teaching/writing music, or working in wilderness/wildlife conservation. I have attempted to be brief with the description of my current work, and as such I imagine that I have left many things unexplained. If anyone has a question about what I do feel free to E-mail me, I would be more than happy to provide additional explanation.