Why do Psychiatrists and Psychologists only ask questions?
CockneyRebel
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They ask personal questions so that they can give you the proper help. How are they supposed to know how to help you, if they don't ask those questions? I went to see a psychiatrist years ago and she failed to ask me such questions and she tried to give me generic help and that help didn't work for me because they didn't have all the correct answers due to the fact that they never asked the questions. Another thing is that all that they saw was autism and they were wondering if everything that I did was due to my autism. I'm not seeing anybody right now because I'm under the impression that the same thing will happen again and my local office won't take me in, because I'm attractive. In order to get the right help, you need to be honest with your answers.
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If you know of a better way to do that than talking about it, I'd be very interested.
That, and most people seeking help already know the answers to their problems...they just aren't facing it. A therapist is trying to get the patient to have an epiphany where they recognize the answer to their problem. They aren't there to tell you what to do, they are there to help you discover what you believe is the best answer for your problem.
Only in certain cases would they tell you to do or not do something. For most everything else, it is about helping you discover what you want to do to resolve an issue.
From reading what you've said, I can think of several possible interpretations for what might be going on:
Interpretation #1: You tend to cope by avoiding your problems and hoping they'll go away. This is not an effective strategy and psychologists know it, so when faced with a patient like that, they tend to encourage them to talk about their problems. The natural reaction for the patient is to get very uncomfortable with this, because it goes against your long-established coping style, but if you can push past the discomfort (or better yet, talk about the discomfort!) you can make a great deal of progress.
Interpretation #2: You are seeing a therapist for AS-related issues and the therapist is trying to use emotion-focused ways to treat them. This is like trying to treat a sore knee by bandaging your ankle. Standard talk therapy is quite effective for issues like depression and anxiety, and can be helpful for an AS person who has such issues, but it is completely ineffective at things like learning social skills or improving executive functions or reducing sensory issues. You need social skills training and occupational therapy for stuff like that, not talk therapy.
Interpretation #3: You don't tend to link up words and emotions the way most people do. In my case, when I think something like 'everyone hates me', this thought does not make me more upset, and countering it with examples of all the people who like me won't make me feel better. The thought just expresses an emotion, but has no power to affect it. If you're like that, then talk therapy won't be very effective. Look into art therapy or something instead.
If you know of a better way to do that than talking about it, I'd be very interested.
That, and most people seeking help already know the answers to their problems...they just aren't facing it. A therapist is trying to get the patient to have an epiphany where they recognize the answer to their problem. They aren't there to tell you what to do, they are there to help you discover what you believe is the best answer for your problem.
Only in certain cases would they tell you to do or not do something. For most everything else, it is about helping you discover what you want to do to resolve an issue.

Yeah, yeah. Whatever.
If you know of a better way to do that than talking about it, I'd be very interested.
That, and most people seeking help already know the answers to their problems...they just aren't facing it.
I wouldn't say most. Some? No doubt.
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btbnnyr
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i felt to intelligent to get treated by a psychiatrist.. they forced me to go to one cause i didn't wanna go to school anymore but i just thought they were stupid and ignorant.., i saw through all their tactics
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Don't know what to say.
Why do they think that talking helps? It makes me feel worse, a lot worse. And angry.
Are there any other kinds of therapists out there? Ones that don't ask you annoying questions? That don't get paid just to take notes?
It's not by asking me questions or comparing me to others that anyone is going to help me.
I agree, and adding to that, why don't they give you some advice? People say that therapy is all about gaining insight yourself, but I wouldn't be here if I knew what to do would I? I am here because I need other people's help...
NowhereWoman
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ETA: Yikes, didn't realize how old this thread was, as it appeared on the first page.
**
OP, why are you in therapy at all and why are you seeing this guy specifically? You have open disdain for all the psychs you've seen (they've all "sucked") and you say the current therapist is ugly, can't get a woman, etc. It sounds to me as if you want a dating coach, not a therapist.
If what you want out of therapy is to get women, you're probably not going to be getting much out of therapy. I doubt any given therapist's front agenda is to get his patients laid. Rather, it's to get them in a better mental/emotional place overall.
BTW, you don't know that the "ugly" therapist isn't getting dates left, right and center. You know he's not married. Some people are not married because they're divorced. Some people aren't married because they just don't want to be married. This dude may be amazing with women for all you know. Unless he's starting out all of your therapy sessions with, "So, how was your week? Mine was terrible because unfortunately, I didn't get laid again" which would be entirely inappropriate and which I doubt, you really don't know. Some very, very unfortunate-looking guys get the girls, because they just have that way...they might be funny...they might be sexy...you really don't know.
But above and beyond that, if you're choosing a therapist based on whether or not he has a lot of girlfriends and/or is married, nope, therapy isn't going to work out for you.
BTW, you start out this thread complaining that your psych asks you about your past. You soon follow that up by complaining that he asks about your present. So if he's not allowed to ask about your past or your present...honestly, WTH CAN he ask you about? Your future? That would be tough as you don't know what your future will be and neither does he.
Last edited by NowhereWoman on 18 Oct 2015, 5:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
NowhereWoman
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Why do they think that talking helps? It makes me feel worse, a lot worse. And angry.
Are there any other kinds of therapists out there? Ones that don't ask you annoying questions? That don't get paid just to take notes?
It's not by asking me questions or comparing me to others that anyone is going to help me.
I agree, and adding to that, why don't they give you some advice? People say that therapy is all about gaining insight yourself, but I wouldn't be here if I knew what to do would I? I am here because I need other people's help...
Psychiatrists aren't generally there to give you advice. Psychiatrists are there to get you to discover things about yourself. They're not Dear Abby. For "advice", a forum like this is great (IMO). But we're not shrinks. And shrinks aren't us...so they aren't going to lean forward and go, "Okay. So have you tried a new haircut and a more casual wardrobe? Here's what worked for me..." That just isn't what therapy is about...I'm sorry.

I feel you guys need to separate the goal of therapy from the goal of having a person or pool of people suggest different things for you to try out. Psychs have to be VERY careful of that because if they "suggest" something specific and you do it and anything bad comes of it - anything at all - they could harm their patient inadvertently at best, and be sued at worst, depending upon the situation and outcome. If you don't want the goal of therapy - better insights - then you should drop therapy. If you want dating advice, find a dating coach. If you want input of "Here's what I tried..." go on forums like this, or find a group IRL that's composed of other people similar to you, sharing stories and advice.
Interpretation #1: You tend to cope by avoiding your problems and hoping they'll go away. This is not an effective strategy and psychologists know it, so when faced with a patient like that, they tend to encourage them to talk about their problems. The natural reaction for the patient is to get very uncomfortable with this, because it goes against your long-established coping style, but if you can push past the discomfort (or better yet, talk about the discomfort!) you can make a great deal of progress.
Interpretation #2: You are seeing a therapist for AS-related issues and the therapist is trying to use emotion-focused ways to treat them. This is like trying to treat a sore knee by bandaging your ankle. Standard talk therapy is quite effective for issues like depression and anxiety, and can be helpful for an AS person who has such issues, but it is completely ineffective at things like learning social skills or improving executive functions or reducing sensory issues. You need social skills training and occupational therapy for stuff like that, not talk therapy.
Interpretation #3: You don't tend to link up words and emotions the way most people do. In my case, when I think something like 'everyone hates me', this thought does not make me more upset, and countering it with examples of all the people who like me won't make me feel better. The thought just expresses an emotion, but has no power to affect it. If you're like that, then talk therapy won't be very effective. Look into art therapy or something instead.
I know I'm quoting something four years old, but man this is good stuff right here IMO.
I am diagnosed with asperger's and social anxiety and stuff, but once upon a time I was only diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and the therapist person I saw wanted to spend every appointment making me tell them about things that were guaranteed to make me cry. They felt that these were the important things.
I mean, look, no matter how many years my parents have been dead, I'm gonna tear up talking about them because that's what people do. Making me discuss my father's death every appointment for months on end, and making me cry, which gets me all congested, which then makes me feel like I can't breathe, which gives me a panic attack, is not helping me! And to do it every single freaking appointment for weeks on end? WTH. My problem was that I had Asperger's with a side of depression because of feeling like I couldn't relate to other people properly. But that guy didn't figure that out because he just wanted to talk about my feelings about my father's death. I was four. He died. It happens. I was sad. I will always wonder what growing up with a dad would be like. But that's not why I keep misunderstanding other people and being left out, teased, and laughed at FFS!!
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The old psychologist trick grinds my metaphorical gears.
It usually occurs when you ask them a question and they answer with yet another question.
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It usually occurs when you ask them a question and they answer with yet another question.
The Socratic method is an ingenious rhetorical tool, it's an attacking maneuver used to probe the opponent's defenses while at the same time allowing the opponent the talking space, thus making it seem as if the opponent is the one in control. That's why attorneys avoid putting their clients on the stand at all costs, it's very hard to beat.
One of the reasons why they ask questions is so they can rule things out like they might ask very personal questions like if you were abused or badly bullied, how was your childhood, if you were ever raped so they can rule out PTSD. That is how they figure out what is causing your problems, they want to know if it's environmental factors or neurological.
Also annoying thing about them is when you ask them a question, they won;t answer it directly but instead they try and make you explore the question and think because they want you to make progress and get better at it. For example I asked him about a facial expression on his face and instead of telling me directly, he wanted me to think about the possibility why he had that look and what it meant and what we were just talking about. I think he wanted to improve my facial expression interpretation.
EDIT: Aw crap I just realized this is an old thread and I saw my response on the first page and it was very similar to what i just wrote.
Also i saw this by the OP:
If that is how anyone feels about their doctor, why are you still seeing them? Find a different one who is not a loser and has higher intelligence.
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Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed and ASD lv 1.
Daughter: NT, no diagnoses. Possibly OCD. Is very private about herself.
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