[From Tim Carey (981219.0645)]
I had another interesting session with my client with obsessive compulsive type behaviours and traumatic flashbacks.
He started off by telling me that things were excellent at the moment. He had only moved one thing this week and that was despite the voices telling him to move things. He said that he also experienced the feeling that some disaster would happen if he didn’t move things and he was still able to ignore it. He said to me that he thought he had solved his moving things problem.
He also told me that he had driven himself to the session today and then was driving into the city to pick up a stereo he was having repaired. I thought this was significant as he’d never driven into the sessions before because he didn’t think he could handle the traffic.
We spoke briefly about his flashbacks. He said he’d had two this week and they were worse than before even though they only lasted for a couple of minutes. He went on to say that he didn’t want to talk about them because he’d get too upset.
He then told me that he was going to see the specialist on January the 12th (I think the specialist is a psychiatrist) and he asked if I would write a report for him. He said that he didn’t think he needed to come back to me before he saw the specialist and that he didn’t think the flashbacks would be able to be shifted.
I spent some time enquiring about the purpose of the visit back to the specialist and it appears that the specialist is going to prepare a case for this man to present to Veteran’s Affairs to say that he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If Veteran’s Affairs accept this diagnosis this means that they will provide my client with a gold card and in his words “Then I’ll be set”. This made more sense as I thought back to the initial session when this client told me that he didn’t have much money and wouldn’t be able to afford many sessions. Money has been quite tight for my client since he retired and essentially a gold card entitles him to free medical care. He will get free treatment for his flashbacks and also will get all his medication for free. The gold card however extends to any other medical treatment that he might need for any other problem including operations etc. When he dies, the gold card will go to his wife and she will continue to receive all the benefits. I’m not sure what treatment, if any, this man will seek once he gets the gold card.
Cheers,
Tim
···
[From Rick Marken (981218.1910)]
Tim Carey (981219.0645) --
I'm sorry Tim. I'm having trouble keeping my mind on CSGNet.
I'm watching with moderate dismay as our wise Republican leaders
impeach President Clinton for not knowing that "sexual relations"
includes "blow job".
How's the immigration situation in Australia?
Best
Rick
···
--
Richard S. Marken Phone or Fax: 310 474-0313
Life Learning Associates e-mail: rmarken@earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~rmarken/
[From Tim Carey (981219.1415)]
[From Rick Marken (981218.1910)]
How's the immigration situation in Australia?
Now that's an "up-a-level" comment if ever I heard one 
Cheers,
Tim
[From Rick Marken (981218.2240)]
Me:
How's the immigration situation in Australia?
Tim Carey (981219.1415)
Now that's an "up-a-level" comment if ever I heard one
You _are_ becoming a master at this! MOL is everywhere.
Now, if only Ed Ford would give the House Republicans the
choice of staying and behaving or going to the social
skills room;-)
Best
Rick
···
--
Richard S. Marken Phone or Fax: 310 474-0313
Life Learning Associates e-mail: rmarken@earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~rmarken/
[From Tim Carey (982012.0615)]
[From Rick Marken (981218.2240)]
Now, if only Ed Ford would give the House Republicans the
choice of staying and behaving or going to the social
skills room;-)
Hmmmmm .... how do you think they would answer the question "Do you want to
work with me on this or not?" and how long do you think we'd have to wait
until they were ready to plan
Cheers,
Tim
[From Bruce Gregory (981219.1545 EDT)]
Tim Carey (982012.0615)
>[From Rick Marken (981218.2240)]
>Now, if only Ed Ford would give the House Republicans the
>choice of staying and behaving or going to the social
>skills room;-)
Hmmmmm .... how do you think they would answer the question "Do
you want to
work with me on this or not?" and how long do you think we'd
have to wait
until they were ready to plan
As much as I admire Ed, I think this is beyond even him. Being a Republican
is a genetic defect. Until we map and better understand the human genome
there is nothing we can do for them. I think coercion is called for...
Bruce Gregory
[From Rick Marken (981219.1450)]
Obviously I finished the paper I was working on. That's why
I have time to waste on CSGNet again. Whoppee;-)
Tim Carey (982012.0615) --
Hmmmmm .... how do you think they [House Republicans] would
answer the question "Do you want to work with me on this
or not?"
Bill Clinton asked the question and they already answered it; they
said "not".
and how long do you think we'd have to wait until they were
ready to plan
I think they already had their plan ready; and it has been carried
out. I think Bill Clinton is trying his best to take a PCT-like
approach to dealing with this situation. He has tried to negotiate
and conciliate and he's still trying. I used to think Clinton was
just the best of a bad choice (over Bush and then Dole). But the
way he has delt with the very mean people who for some reason
seem to hate him has led me to have great admiration for this
fellow. The fact that so many people seem to despise him suggests
that maybe the PCT approach to conflict resolution -- negotiation,
conciliation, respect for your adversary -- is going to be a harder
sell than I would have ever imagined. I think many people just like
leaders who take the bullying (S-R) approach to dealing with
conflict -- the approach that seems to be the one that's popular
with Clinton's adversaries.
Best
Rick
···
--
Richard S. Marken Phone or Fax: 310 474-0313
Life Learning Associates e-mail: rmarken@earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~rmarken/
[From Kenny Kitzke (981221.1230)]
<From Rick Marken (981218.2240)>
<Now, if only Ed Ford would give the House Republicans the
choice of staying and behaving or going to the social
skills room;-)>
Ya just can't leave it go, can you? 
Want to debate whether dem House Republicans are coercing Mr. Bill?
Kenny
[From Rick Marken (981221.1440)]
Kenny Kitzke (981221.1230)
Want to debate whether dem House Republicans are coercing
Mr. Bill?
Not a chance;-)
I just want to sit back and enjoy watching human decency (Bill
Clinton) at least briefly triumph over malevolent hypocrisy
(dem House Republicans).
Love
Rick
···
--
Richard S. Marken Phone or Fax: 310 474-0313
Life Learning Associates e-mail: rmarken@earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~rmarken
[From Bill Powers (981223.0543 MST)]
Tim Carey (981219.0645)--
I had another interesting session with
my client with obsessive compulsive type behaviours and traumatic
flashbacks. He started off by telling me that things were excellent at
the moment. He had only moved one thing this week and that was despite the
voices telling him to move things.
Did I miss something? The "voices" are new to me. I think that would be
worth asking about. I have worked with people who heard voices, and it was
helpful to ask about details like whose voice it is, can they make the
voices say things, and so forth. Some people really don't seem to know that
everybody "hears voices" -- we call it "thinking." For some people it's
just more vivid (low-level) than it is for others.
He then told me that he was going to
see the specialist on January the 12th (I think the specialist is a
psychiatrist) and he asked if I would write a report for him. He said that
he didn't think he needed to come back to me before he saw the specialist
and that he didn't think the flashbacks would be able to be shifted.
"". This made more sense as I thought back to the initial session when
this client told me that he didn't have much money and wouldn't be able to
afford many sessions. Money has been quite tight for my client since he
retired and essentially a gold card entitles him to free medical care. He
will get free treatment for his flashbacks and also will get all his
medication for free. The gold card however extends to any other medical
treatment that he might need for any other problem including operations
etc. When he dies, the gold card will go to his wife and she will continue
to receive all the benefits. I'm not sure what treatment, if any, this man
will seek once he gets the gold card.
His decision, of course. While this man obviously has a way to go, does he
seem enough in charge of his own life to carry on from here, with you
available as backup?
If he does come back, I would ask about his opinion that the flashbacks
can't be cured. Any statement like that is a higher level system saying he
shouldn't even try.
Could you be satisfied with this case even if the man never comes back?
Best,
Bill P.
[From Tim Carey (981224.0540)]
[From Bill Powers (981223.0543 MST)]
Did I miss something? The "voices" are new to me.
Sorry Bill, that's my sloppy communication. My client would describe what
happens as an idea or a feeling.
His decision, of course. While this man obviously has a way to go, does he
seem enough in charge of his own life to carry on from here, with you
available as backup?
That's hard to say. I'll give him a call in early January just to see how
he's doing. One thing I found really interesting was that he talked a lot
about what "normal" people do. He also described the moving things as
"craziness" but the flashbacks weren't. At one point we spoke about his
ideas of normality and he said he had concerns that he was going crazy. He
also said that he wanted to know whether he was crazy or not. Perhaps that
was his purpose in coming to therapy. Something like: I'm not moving things
any more so I know I'm not crazy and I can live with the flashbacks because
they're not part of the craziness.
All conjecture of course (at this stage).
If he does come back, I would ask about his opinion that the flashbacks
can't be cured. Any statement like that is a higher level system saying he
shouldn't even try.
Yep, good point.
Could you be satisfied with this case even if the man never comes back?
I think so. I was really disappointed when he said that he would not be
coming back but I think I learned heaps about MOL with this man ... it
really felt like something "clicked" so I'm thrilled about that and really
looking forward to starting my next internship in February.
Cheers,
Tim
