Posted by Lorne on August 8, 2005, at 9:06:20
In reply to Re: please be civil » Lorne, posted by Dr. Bob on August 8, 2005, at 1:10:06
Dear Dr. Bob,
One of the reasons I got out of the profession was the inability to speak the truth.
The example that sticks in my mind: during rounds at my last clinical position the lead clinician was talking about the importance of being empathetic with a specific drug addicted client. I knew the client and said that I thought we were past empathy and needed to look at what we could do so save his life.
I got a real dressing down in front of the rest of the staff. Empathy, I was told, was the be all and end all. Empathy alone, maybe with a smidge of technique, was all you needed, (Rogerians...Oy).
The following morning I was notified the client was dead. He OD'D that night.
We had mortality meeting the next day, and I asked the one question no one wanted to be asked, "did anyone tell this guy he was going to die of he kept this up”? Dead silence, I swear you could hear crickets in the background. This patient had been attending a partial hospital program for two years, twice a week, and while he received sympathy by the bucket no one had told him he was killing himself and to knock it off.
Within the year I gave up clinical work for teaching and some government work. I sleep better now.
As a fellow professional you must recognize that the exchange of incomplete information is dangerous, doubly so when it pertains to meds. You must also recognize that axis II clients are not helped by sympathy, because over time it makes the behaviors they use to obtain sympathy more severe. You must also recognize that sympathy is not the same as empathy, and its one off from pity.
That being said, this is your site and not mine. I'm unlikely to swim with the fishes here, so I recuse myself.
Thank you for your time and allowing me to speak my piece.
Lorne
poster:Lorne
thread:537421
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20050722/msgs/539076.html