Psychologist Subculture
Content
1 An Intimate Life of Confidentiality White walls, grey-blue chairs, a washed out painting of a flower or a tree, a few mismatched lamps; this is the type of waiting room I grew up in, the type of waiting room at my mom‟s work. The smell of Lysol lingers in these rooms, like a dog patiently waiting for his master. The carpet is always grey and the chairs are always scratchy. Usually there are buttons on the wall, lit up when someone is waiting to enter a specific room. But, who is entering which room, why are they entering that room, are they crazy, are they weak? All types of people wait in these waiting rooms. Cheerleaders, goths, engineers, cowboys, jocks, kids, parents, spouses, addicts, preps, all kinds of people from all different walks of life; every stereotype is represented. These people are waiting to talk to their psychologist, a person who has the tools and the will to help all these eclectic people be satisfied with themselves and with others. When these people step from the scratchy waiting room into their psychologist office, often there is a sense of relief; a sense that they are welcome. A psychologist‟s job is not easy, but neither is their personal life. This occupation does not change who a person is, but it throws new and misunderstood challenge each and every day towards the people involved. Once again, I found myself waiting in a counseling services waiting room, but this time I was not waiting for my mom or to see a doctor. This time I was waiting to interview Dr. Karin Moody in the hopes of gaining insight into the personal lives of psychologists. As I took a look around the average bleak room, I noticed the coffee table filled with hand outs and pamphlets about LGTBQI problems, group counseling, respectful empowerment… The list topics went on and on. I also noticed two blonde, fit looking girls filling out paperwork while sitting on the scratchy grey-pink chairs under
2 the light of three mismatched lamps placed next to a fake plant. This waiting room is ordinary, but the people working here are not. Psychologists are not your average, everyday people. There are a few factors that separate psychologists into a subculture. Clearly, there is the stereotype our culture assigns to psychologists; Karin also explains other ways in which psychologists are separated from the rest of the community. Many of which involve the way the community interacts with psychologists and the everyday work psychologists do. For many people, these differences are very noticeable. As I waited, I thought about the first image that comes into my mind when I think „psychologist.‟ I thought of an older woman, wearing a worn yellow sweater and old grey dress pants, wearing little makeup and a heartwarming smile. Even though my mom is a psychologist, I still find myself stereotyping them. Oddly enough, Karin‟s view of the average psychologist stereotype was not much different than mine. She noted people thinking of psychologists as having “long „strokie‟ beards and black plastic glasses, there is always a couch involved in people‟s fantasies.” These stereotypes stop people from getting to know a psychologist and stop people from being open minded about talking to one. A Psychologist’s Stereotype
3 Many people are ignorant to what a psychologist does and who a psychologist is as a person. Psychologists have “worked really hard for this title” as a doctor. They “had grad school, an internship, a residency, and licensure. I [They] certainly had to go to CEs and all that. My [Their] degree is a doctor of psychology.” The main job of a psychologist is to “get people ready to talk,” and to “help people be better in their relationships with themselves and other people.” Psychologists are not magicians or miracle workers. All in all, psychologists help their clients live with the lives and situations they are given in the most comfortable and successful way possible. What is commonly forgotten about psychologists is that they are people too. “When you engage in a relationship with your psychologist, it‟s not always guaranteed it‟s going to work. We bring ourselves, our personalities, and who we are into the room. People don‟t know details about our lives, but we are ourselves.” The unusual aspect of the situation is that psychologists do know the details of their clients‟ lives. But, psychologists are just as human as everyone else. Karin also explained other ways in which psychologists are separated from the rest of the community. “We talk about things in odd ways because we‟re used to being able to engage with people very directly and cut corners of niceties.” She gave an example of this with the initiation of her friendship with Zoe. She explained how on “the third day we were here we had a sit down conversation about whether or not we were going to be best friends here at work. We were able to talk at an honest level that I feel many people outside of the field don‟t do because it‟s scary.” Many psychologists are daring and open in their social interactions. Unfortunately, many people are uncomfortable with this type of interaction.
4 Psychologists are commonly treated differently than other people when they are off work. Like all other humans, psychologists want to make friends and have relationships with people. Karin states, “A lot of my friends who are psychologists have alternative egos that they‟ll say at cocktail parties. They‟ll say they‟re acrobats or flight attendants or something” so that people feel comfortable interacting with them normally. When someone finds out that Karin or a colleague is a psychologist, they often “will be overly disclosive or they‟ll suddenly not want to talk to you at all. They have that look in their eye like, „are you analyzing me right now?‟” “They [the public] don‟t know all the things we do know and all the things we don‟t.” For example, psychologists cannot “make a treatment plan outside of context;” they cannot answer random questions about people they do not know in a professional manner. Truth is, “the biggest difference between us and another person is that we have special fancy words that we like to use when we analyze. But, I think all people really do analyze because they want to figure out what‟s happening.” Psychologists have worked hard gain education and develop their skills, but they are still human and have the same universal emotions and needs as everyone else. Part of being a psychologist is keeping everything a client discloses confidential. Close friends and relatives of psychologists have to “be able to respect and understand that if I have a really rotten day, they can only support me in certain ways.” So, how do psychologists find support while working in such a secretive occupation? They cannot go home to their friends and family and blab about everything on heir minds. When tragedy strikes, like the death of a client, all a psychologist can say is, “I‟m hurting because one of my clients died. We can‟t go to funerals, we can‟t go to wakes, we can‟t make it
5 public. So we carry the grief inside.” Fortunately, Karin‟s got “really supportive colleagues.” When working somewhere like Cal Poly‟s Counseling Services, psychologists often collaborate when deciding treatment plans or ways to deal with challenging clients. They are all “fairly familiar with what goes on with everybody else,” therefore, they create a support system for one another that is not so confidential. Karin also states that, “I think everyone should be in therapy… how many of us are focusing on the future and our families and our friends, what we‟re having for dinner. We don‟t really sit and think about, „ok, here‟s how I‟m feeling right now.” Believe it or not, many psychologists are in therapy. Psychologists have many emotions, just like everyone else, but they are only able to disclose many of those emotions to a very select group of people. Being the daughter of a psychologist, I know the rules of confidentiality very well. Recently, due to my growing up and my interview with Dr. Moody, I have been able to look up to my mother in a new way. When I was a kid, waiting rooms were scary. They have a very medical, „crazy person‟ feel. But, as I grew older, I noticed the transition from a waiting room to a psychologist‟s office. As I stepped over the threshold to adulthood, I also found myself stepping over the threshold to an open and honest space. I began to realize that as the sometimes-nervous clients step into their psychologist‟s office, many of their thoughts and worries are freed from their minds. I believe this is due to the presence of a psychologist; the presence of a safe place. A psychologist is a person, a helper, a doctor; they bring all their baggage and all their personality into the room, but they are not allowed to speak of it. A psychologist is a
6 listener, solely concentrated on their client during working hours, but off of work, they are equals in our community.
7 Works Cited Farris, Joseph. Psychiatrist Analyzing Sigmund Freud. c. 2007. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. Moody, Karin. Personal Interview. 04 Oct. 2012.
2 the light of three mismatched lamps placed next to a fake plant. This waiting room is ordinary, but the people working here are not. Psychologists are not your average, everyday people. There are a few factors that separate psychologists into a subculture. Clearly, there is the stereotype our culture assigns to psychologists; Karin also explains other ways in which psychologists are separated from the rest of the community. Many of which involve the way the community interacts with psychologists and the everyday work psychologists do. For many people, these differences are very noticeable. As I waited, I thought about the first image that comes into my mind when I think „psychologist.‟ I thought of an older woman, wearing a worn yellow sweater and old grey dress pants, wearing little makeup and a heartwarming smile. Even though my mom is a psychologist, I still find myself stereotyping them. Oddly enough, Karin‟s view of the average psychologist stereotype was not much different than mine. She noted people thinking of psychologists as having “long „strokie‟ beards and black plastic glasses, there is always a couch involved in people‟s fantasies.” These stereotypes stop people from getting to know a psychologist and stop people from being open minded about talking to one. A Psychologist’s Stereotype
3 Many people are ignorant to what a psychologist does and who a psychologist is as a person. Psychologists have “worked really hard for this title” as a doctor. They “had grad school, an internship, a residency, and licensure. I [They] certainly had to go to CEs and all that. My [Their] degree is a doctor of psychology.” The main job of a psychologist is to “get people ready to talk,” and to “help people be better in their relationships with themselves and other people.” Psychologists are not magicians or miracle workers. All in all, psychologists help their clients live with the lives and situations they are given in the most comfortable and successful way possible. What is commonly forgotten about psychologists is that they are people too. “When you engage in a relationship with your psychologist, it‟s not always guaranteed it‟s going to work. We bring ourselves, our personalities, and who we are into the room. People don‟t know details about our lives, but we are ourselves.” The unusual aspect of the situation is that psychologists do know the details of their clients‟ lives. But, psychologists are just as human as everyone else. Karin also explained other ways in which psychologists are separated from the rest of the community. “We talk about things in odd ways because we‟re used to being able to engage with people very directly and cut corners of niceties.” She gave an example of this with the initiation of her friendship with Zoe. She explained how on “the third day we were here we had a sit down conversation about whether or not we were going to be best friends here at work. We were able to talk at an honest level that I feel many people outside of the field don‟t do because it‟s scary.” Many psychologists are daring and open in their social interactions. Unfortunately, many people are uncomfortable with this type of interaction.
4 Psychologists are commonly treated differently than other people when they are off work. Like all other humans, psychologists want to make friends and have relationships with people. Karin states, “A lot of my friends who are psychologists have alternative egos that they‟ll say at cocktail parties. They‟ll say they‟re acrobats or flight attendants or something” so that people feel comfortable interacting with them normally. When someone finds out that Karin or a colleague is a psychologist, they often “will be overly disclosive or they‟ll suddenly not want to talk to you at all. They have that look in their eye like, „are you analyzing me right now?‟” “They [the public] don‟t know all the things we do know and all the things we don‟t.” For example, psychologists cannot “make a treatment plan outside of context;” they cannot answer random questions about people they do not know in a professional manner. Truth is, “the biggest difference between us and another person is that we have special fancy words that we like to use when we analyze. But, I think all people really do analyze because they want to figure out what‟s happening.” Psychologists have worked hard gain education and develop their skills, but they are still human and have the same universal emotions and needs as everyone else. Part of being a psychologist is keeping everything a client discloses confidential. Close friends and relatives of psychologists have to “be able to respect and understand that if I have a really rotten day, they can only support me in certain ways.” So, how do psychologists find support while working in such a secretive occupation? They cannot go home to their friends and family and blab about everything on heir minds. When tragedy strikes, like the death of a client, all a psychologist can say is, “I‟m hurting because one of my clients died. We can‟t go to funerals, we can‟t go to wakes, we can‟t make it
5 public. So we carry the grief inside.” Fortunately, Karin‟s got “really supportive colleagues.” When working somewhere like Cal Poly‟s Counseling Services, psychologists often collaborate when deciding treatment plans or ways to deal with challenging clients. They are all “fairly familiar with what goes on with everybody else,” therefore, they create a support system for one another that is not so confidential. Karin also states that, “I think everyone should be in therapy… how many of us are focusing on the future and our families and our friends, what we‟re having for dinner. We don‟t really sit and think about, „ok, here‟s how I‟m feeling right now.” Believe it or not, many psychologists are in therapy. Psychologists have many emotions, just like everyone else, but they are only able to disclose many of those emotions to a very select group of people. Being the daughter of a psychologist, I know the rules of confidentiality very well. Recently, due to my growing up and my interview with Dr. Moody, I have been able to look up to my mother in a new way. When I was a kid, waiting rooms were scary. They have a very medical, „crazy person‟ feel. But, as I grew older, I noticed the transition from a waiting room to a psychologist‟s office. As I stepped over the threshold to adulthood, I also found myself stepping over the threshold to an open and honest space. I began to realize that as the sometimes-nervous clients step into their psychologist‟s office, many of their thoughts and worries are freed from their minds. I believe this is due to the presence of a psychologist; the presence of a safe place. A psychologist is a person, a helper, a doctor; they bring all their baggage and all their personality into the room, but they are not allowed to speak of it. A psychologist is a
6 listener, solely concentrated on their client during working hours, but off of work, they are equals in our community.
7 Works Cited Farris, Joseph. Psychiatrist Analyzing Sigmund Freud. c. 2007. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. Moody, Karin. Personal Interview. 04 Oct. 2012.
