A couple of days ago, I met with my Psychiatrist for the second time. It’s my first time seeing one.
She had put me on some medications on the first visit. During the second visit, she said things like, “I cannot believe I did that.” and, “Sorry, I’m dealing with some family issues if I seem aloof.”
How am I supposed to react to this? Is this typical?
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Sorry, I’m dealing with some family issues if I seem aloof.
She should have taken some time off. Psychiatrists are human too and many times have their own mental health issues (and that is why they chose this profession). It’s up to you, but if it were me I would see if this behavior continues in the next session before I switch her out.
She said she was taking some time off and going out of town. My thought, though, was… I don’t really care. I don’t know her well, and what does she want me to respond with?
This is not typical, and even her apology has some red flags. If you feel comfortable, I would consider giving her direct feedback. If she’s having a crisis at home that is bleeding into her work, she needs to take some time off and handle her issues. And if she has made an error, there are much more professional ways to handle it other than seeking your forgiveness with an excuse. Hopefully acknowledging the elephant in the room would be enough to make her take a hard look at how she handled this and understand that something needs to change immediately.
Whether or not you address it directly, I would definitely advise looking for another therapist. Boundaries are essential to any therapy relationship, and she already crossed them with you.
Your second point is what frustrated me the most. She seemed to have crossed a boundary. I didn’t know how to describe it until you worded it that way.
I do have a friend that is a Psychiatrist. I thought about asking her advice; however, I didn’t want to put her in an awkward spot if she knew the one I was going to.
You don’t have to reveal her name to your friend—just say you were seeing someone new and had some questions.
Regardless, I think your discomfort about it is your answer. Time to find a new doc.
It is not typical but it can happen, anyone can have a really bad day and mess up. It should not happen again or I would find someone else because I would find it very unprofessional.
If she is fine at the next session but you still feel insecure about her and what happened last time, her decision about medication etc, then I would talk to her about it. Behaviour like hers can break trust and you need to be honest with her and yourself if this has happened to you and see if you can rebuild that trust.
I hope it is fixable for you, because finding a new therapist can be a struggle, at least where I come from (Germany). I wish you all the best!
It took me 5 months to get in with her. There aren’t very many openings where I live. That’s part of the problem. I will take the advice to see how the next session goes. It’s not until mid-July. Perhaps it’ll all be settled by then. It was just eating at me that she acted confused about my treatment and mentioned her issues.
During the sessions, she’s always typing. How could she not know what we did last time? She must be taking notes.
