Lived Experience Forum

[JustMehere]

Hello.

I'm hoping that I may be able to tap into some of the collective wisdom and life experiences of the good people here. Please excuse any mistakes I may make.

I need to find a good psychiatrist and /or clinical psychologist { can be private}  a.s.a.p. - I know I probably wont be able to get in to see them immediately.

By supportive I mean that they will actually LISTEN to me. - my issue is a disability / insurance  one but I'm not applying for the disability pension { not yet at any rate...hopefully I can avoid that}.

I'm fairly desperate and would greatly appreciate ANY help.

Thank you and Best wishes. 

God Bless

[Peregrinefalcon]

Hey @JustMehere, welcome to the Forums! We are happy to have you!

It sounds like things have been tough and you have had some unfavourable experiences with psychiatrists and/or psychologists in the past. I am really sorry you have had that experience. It can definitely take a lot of trial and error to find someone who you feel is right for you.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide specific referrals or recommendations here but hopefully we can still provide some useful information.

One of the first things I suggest is an appointment with a GP in order to discuss your concerns. I recommend booking in a mental health appointment, or a double consultation, in order to feel you have adequate time to discuss what you are experiencing.They may be able to point you in the direction of a psychologist or psychiatrist who they can recommend.

If you would prefer to look for a psychologist yourself, this tool https://www.psychology.org.au/Find-a-Psychologist can help identify psychologists in your area.

But that's the easy part - the hard part is finding someone you feel you can trust and connect with! It can be worthwhile seeing if they are available to chat over the phone to discuss any concerns you have. It can provide a little bit of a sense of what their style may be like and answer any questions about whether they have specific experience in what you are looking for.

I wish there was a simple answer to this one but it is such a deeply personal decision around what is going to feel best for you. 

If you would like support in the meantime, please feel free to reach out to SANE's Support Centre on 1800 187 263 for further discussion and advice.

I can definitely relate to this dilemma and I am sure many others here can, too, and can offer their own words of wisdom.

Take good care of yourself 💛 Peregrinefalcon

[JustMehere]

Hi @Peregrinefalcon,

thanks for that. I didn't think that the actual forum would formally recommend someone, I was hoping some forum members might have had some positive experiences that could help.

[wellwellwellnez]

When you say  some to "listen", I go to a couple of places. The first is gold old "active listening", as a fundamental. It's something that a lot of people learn but there's a spectrum to how active peoples listening are. I guess it depends on what ind of active. That brings me to the second thing......

..."Cognitive empathy". The empathy of (through education or experience (but somehow)) actually understanding. Or understanding from a, frame of reference, point of view. I wonder if that's also the kind of listening you mean.

Now, to riff on cognitive empathy, cognitive anything is all about compatible modelling. So it's not just about ability to understand but ability to understand the understanding. Like, I'm coming to understand that my peer support approach is very psycho-educational. Why? Because, like the cartoons say, "knowing is half the battle". Thing is, sometimes people are working more on the other half. Also, a lot of my takes are weird. And, people only know what they think they know, at the end of the day.

So, what I'm saying is, you can tell a lot about a practitioner by what practices they choose, Ccmpatability-wise.

[maddison]

Not weird @wellwellwellnez I personally find your interpretations & explanations of topics very interesting. Please don't think of yourself like that! Unique, yes! And I would describe your thinking as big! I recall seeing a reply of yours a month or two ago, about eye movements. Moving left to right as to imitate a forward movement - if I'm remembering it right! You added a joke about at least getting eye exercise! I sat & tried it. I appreciate your open mindedness. I did not know about active listening vs cognitive empathy - in that context. Understanding what one is understanding is a powerful thought - I'm not there yet! I don't understand all your posts. It's the different thinkers, the rest of the world eventually follows.

[Paperdaisy]

That one about eyes stayed with me too @maddison I think it's from EMDR which I find very interesting and would love to learn one day. 

[maddison]

Yes, that was a really unique response! And why not, I think we have become too conditioned (i have) to accepting usual treatments. Not being critical of them, I would like to be open to others.

Thankyou @Paperdaisy I have never heard of EMDR. I will read about it tomorrow, it looks interesting.

[wellwellwellnez]

@JustMehere @maddison @Paperdaisy @Peregrinefalcon I think I have been getting something out of the eye thing. Also, been adding a bit of a sway to my actual walk as well. Been finding that to kind of free-up the mind-set at least a little bit.

[maddison]

Hey @wellwellwellnez @JustMehere @Paperdaisy @Peregrinefalcon 

Hope I didn't make too much fuss. Wanted to add some background info.

A couple days ago I was sitting in restaurant. I didn't like the seat I was in - 'feng Shui ' wise, so I moved. In response to my action, someone labeled me "weird". I was so shocked, moreso than offended. It was said in a cruel tone. It made me feel sad for the way many people with differences are made to feel & gave me insight into level of ignorance of public.

So you see, when I read your post - the weird word stood out to me. I was a projecting my experience & working on new information.

I really like the word weird! I use it all the time. It has great subtle tones, without generally being offensive, & can be used in a 'cute' way. Situations, objects can be weird- people, it can only be used with love, & probably not appropriate mostly.

So yeh, it was funny how that stood out to me& I felt compelled to reply based on MY recent experience! ♥️

Thanks, for eye update info. Sounds interesting. And you add a gentle sway to your walk? I will try. Yes, physical actions to free up mind set. I appreciate that.