Dove - I appreciate how you show both sides of this. The example with your client made the piece feel concrete, and your point about medications not being “magic” but something to weigh with care makes sense. I also like how you brought CBT-I into the picture, not just as a treatment but as a way of giving people more confidence in themselves. It left me thinking about how often sleep gets treated as a symptom to manage, rather than a system we can learn to understand.
Your posts like a one huge, wise, comfort zone, LOL Thanks for reading and thinking about this post. Means a lot. Yes, to me CBT-I feels like building a competency in managing the things we can change to have good sleep and letting go of the rest. Each part of that help us sleep better. Fascinating.
[...lengthy comment, Dove; don't feel obliged to respond. Some of the sentiment is reflected in my upcoming book.]
Practicing psychotherapy has obvious benefits when A Therapist can share insights from A Client/Patient (as depicted herein). I do have questions revolving a long-held resistance to ever considering therapy: I don't want to end up in Some One's book - even anonymously. Public interactions can find their way into A Book, sure...but I'm referring to Private Interactions.
One of my mothers is a therapist, which helped after leaving my birthed environment, so that may be a bit of A Cheat, here. But especially as I've grown to understand The World and "systems", better, I was able to marry my instinctive disdain for "seeing a therapist" with another [R]eality: Therapy is (where I live) A Business. [Everyone has to make A Living.]
Now...I know there is the pretense of Ethics, but rules are always breached by Humans; and not Everything is "caught", nor is Everything deemed "acceptable" necessarily absolvable of Acceptability (e.g. the client interactions that make their way into private conversations of A Therapist). Ingeminating, my personal concern with "seeing" A Therapist now compounds the "I don't want to end up in Some One's book" notion with the [R]eality that Therapy is, in fact (in The U.S., at least), A Business.
IF A Therapist determines "business" is not faring well, s/he may opt for writing A Book...to help generate revenue. Even without personally-identifying specifics, the act of writing A Book includes regard for producing something sellable. [Publishers do not pay to produce Something that will end up in the Ross Geller section of The Library ("Friends" reference). So, unless A Therapist is producing an actual textbook to be purchased by Academia (which, even then may not always be An Exception), a sellable book will require details of the scintillating and even salacious variety (even if The Salacious is curated to protect a "professional image"). This includes self-publishing; The Point is to generate A Profit.
The television show "Frasier" is one of my all-time favorites. With a different upbringing (or space to actually think-through Undergrad) I'd have likely gone into Medicine to practice psychiatry.
I'm thinking of posing This Question to multiple therapists but wonder if you've reconciled the juxtaposition of Health and Profit. Pending the diametric risk/reward, "seeing a therapist" has An Outcome. If Medicine was not something that could be profited from (e.g. a free, social benefit) - and I'm not sure I'm in favor of such...but what if - I MIGHT be more consenting to promoting Therapy.
Thank you so much for your comments. I will be reading and thinking about these more. To be sure: In my writing, no real client's personal details are shared, ever. My mind makes stories from pieces of real life but I would not share a real person's real life. I'll be thinking about this a lot and am honored you shared this.
I thought about this whole issue a lot when I wrote my two books. You note assumes people write for profit. It's a big assumption and not one I would make. This coincides with me just sharing on memoir writing (see note about memoir writing before this). The biggest point I have gotten so far in this note is a sense of protection. I respect that. I'll think further into that. Thank you, Dove
Thanks, Dove. I appreciate your indulgences when I comment. Certainly, like my own Mom, I do know there are Good Therapists- selfless and all the Other Stuff that remarks The Best in Humans. So, indeed...pardon any inferred Blanket Statements. I will do some more thinking (as always), but understand Your Response.
It's good to "talk" and be able to express different perspectives. My second book "Brain Dance," I wrote after recovering from a traumatic brain injury and pretty much changing the direction of my work and life. I felt like people should know about people like me and have hope that those kind of injuries are not prophecies of someone whose life changed in a negative way and people didn't see much anymore. I also started to learn to sing to help my brain during recovery.
I think reading about other people's lives help give us hope and ideas on what might happen in ours. Many people have and still do inspire me, that pulls me forward when things feel difficult. In turn, my work helps others. I think that writing books and the things we share here -- if they are honest and come from a good place -- can give hope and even change the world. I know it may sound lofty or corny but it's how I think. Thanks Maurice for listening and writing :)
Agreed. Certainly, the benefits of sharing our vulnerabilities translates into Help for myriad people. The World needs the balancing of Those who maintain belief in changing The World, in conjunction with Those Others who may relegate Belief and resign to Hope, instead.
I would like to think that Many begin with a general positioning of a change-the-world spirit or potential. To have lived and retained that spirit, undiminished, to me, indicates a life of greater stability than too many of us lose. In losing Stability, comforts, and being on the proverbial Short End of Enough Outcomes...Many become jaded, or more cynical, more skeptical, more aware, more discerning, and/or even more prepared for multiple outcome potentials.
My personal commitment to changing The World has transitioned into a pursuit to challenge Politics and Government - because of how The Many continue living at the whims of The Few. I'd like to reverse that. [...talk about "lofty or corny" (I understand).]
So I get it- the spirit to keep changing The World, and am glad that you still maintain belief in doing it. Every bit helps in some manner. Keep it going.
Thanks for sharing, and thanks, very kindly, for responding, Dove.
Yes! And you know best. I was recently telling one of clients about how their gut microbiome has it's own Circadian Rhythm. They looked amazed. Sleep really is important to staying all in sync.
Dove - I appreciate how you show both sides of this. The example with your client made the piece feel concrete, and your point about medications not being “magic” but something to weigh with care makes sense. I also like how you brought CBT-I into the picture, not just as a treatment but as a way of giving people more confidence in themselves. It left me thinking about how often sleep gets treated as a symptom to manage, rather than a system we can learn to understand.
Your posts like a one huge, wise, comfort zone, LOL Thanks for reading and thinking about this post. Means a lot. Yes, to me CBT-I feels like building a competency in managing the things we can change to have good sleep and letting go of the rest. Each part of that help us sleep better. Fascinating.
[...lengthy comment, Dove; don't feel obliged to respond. Some of the sentiment is reflected in my upcoming book.]
Practicing psychotherapy has obvious benefits when A Therapist can share insights from A Client/Patient (as depicted herein). I do have questions revolving a long-held resistance to ever considering therapy: I don't want to end up in Some One's book - even anonymously. Public interactions can find their way into A Book, sure...but I'm referring to Private Interactions.
One of my mothers is a therapist, which helped after leaving my birthed environment, so that may be a bit of A Cheat, here. But especially as I've grown to understand The World and "systems", better, I was able to marry my instinctive disdain for "seeing a therapist" with another [R]eality: Therapy is (where I live) A Business. [Everyone has to make A Living.]
Now...I know there is the pretense of Ethics, but rules are always breached by Humans; and not Everything is "caught", nor is Everything deemed "acceptable" necessarily absolvable of Acceptability (e.g. the client interactions that make their way into private conversations of A Therapist). Ingeminating, my personal concern with "seeing" A Therapist now compounds the "I don't want to end up in Some One's book" notion with the [R]eality that Therapy is, in fact (in The U.S., at least), A Business.
IF A Therapist determines "business" is not faring well, s/he may opt for writing A Book...to help generate revenue. Even without personally-identifying specifics, the act of writing A Book includes regard for producing something sellable. [Publishers do not pay to produce Something that will end up in the Ross Geller section of The Library ("Friends" reference). So, unless A Therapist is producing an actual textbook to be purchased by Academia (which, even then may not always be An Exception), a sellable book will require details of the scintillating and even salacious variety (even if The Salacious is curated to protect a "professional image"). This includes self-publishing; The Point is to generate A Profit.
The television show "Frasier" is one of my all-time favorites. With a different upbringing (or space to actually think-through Undergrad) I'd have likely gone into Medicine to practice psychiatry.
I'm thinking of posing This Question to multiple therapists but wonder if you've reconciled the juxtaposition of Health and Profit. Pending the diametric risk/reward, "seeing a therapist" has An Outcome. If Medicine was not something that could be profited from (e.g. a free, social benefit) - and I'm not sure I'm in favor of such...but what if - I MIGHT be more consenting to promoting Therapy.
What do you think?
Thank you so much for your comments. I will be reading and thinking about these more. To be sure: In my writing, no real client's personal details are shared, ever. My mind makes stories from pieces of real life but I would not share a real person's real life. I'll be thinking about this a lot and am honored you shared this.
I thought about this whole issue a lot when I wrote my two books. You note assumes people write for profit. It's a big assumption and not one I would make. This coincides with me just sharing on memoir writing (see note about memoir writing before this). The biggest point I have gotten so far in this note is a sense of protection. I respect that. I'll think further into that. Thank you, Dove
Thanks, Dove. I appreciate your indulgences when I comment. Certainly, like my own Mom, I do know there are Good Therapists- selfless and all the Other Stuff that remarks The Best in Humans. So, indeed...pardon any inferred Blanket Statements. I will do some more thinking (as always), but understand Your Response.
I know you're busy, so thank you, again! 😊
It's good to "talk" and be able to express different perspectives. My second book "Brain Dance," I wrote after recovering from a traumatic brain injury and pretty much changing the direction of my work and life. I felt like people should know about people like me and have hope that those kind of injuries are not prophecies of someone whose life changed in a negative way and people didn't see much anymore. I also started to learn to sing to help my brain during recovery.
I think reading about other people's lives help give us hope and ideas on what might happen in ours. Many people have and still do inspire me, that pulls me forward when things feel difficult. In turn, my work helps others. I think that writing books and the things we share here -- if they are honest and come from a good place -- can give hope and even change the world. I know it may sound lofty or corny but it's how I think. Thanks Maurice for listening and writing :)
Agreed. Certainly, the benefits of sharing our vulnerabilities translates into Help for myriad people. The World needs the balancing of Those who maintain belief in changing The World, in conjunction with Those Others who may relegate Belief and resign to Hope, instead.
I would like to think that Many begin with a general positioning of a change-the-world spirit or potential. To have lived and retained that spirit, undiminished, to me, indicates a life of greater stability than too many of us lose. In losing Stability, comforts, and being on the proverbial Short End of Enough Outcomes...Many become jaded, or more cynical, more skeptical, more aware, more discerning, and/or even more prepared for multiple outcome potentials.
My personal commitment to changing The World has transitioned into a pursuit to challenge Politics and Government - because of how The Many continue living at the whims of The Few. I'd like to reverse that. [...talk about "lofty or corny" (I understand).]
So I get it- the spirit to keep changing The World, and am glad that you still maintain belief in doing it. Every bit helps in some manner. Keep it going.
Thanks for sharing, and thanks, very kindly, for responding, Dove.
Cheers...
Same back to you, Maurice. All good.
Sleep is so essential for good metabolic health and feeling our best🧡
Yes! And you know best. I was recently telling one of clients about how their gut microbiome has it's own Circadian Rhythm. They looked amazed. Sleep really is important to staying all in sync.
Sleep is so essential for literally everything. I have chronic insomnia so it is always my #1 priority.
Absolutely! And, good for you to keep this as a priority when it can be so challenging. It IS essential.