Comments on: Put a Fork in Me

By: Scott K. Johnson

Scott K. Johnson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:44:06 +0000

Damn – a 200 question 4 hour exam?! My brain would have been mush by question 10.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:23:06 +0000

Wow, that sounds like a horrid test!!! Here’s hoping you did better than you think and you’ll never have to sit through it again! {{{HUGS}}}

By: Lyrehca

Lyrehca — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:04:09 +0000

Congrats on getting through the test–good luck with the waiting!

By: suzanne

suzanne — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:59:52 +0000

LeeAnn, I am so proud of you for sitting for the test. I am sure you did well, I think we all walk away from these big tests extremely addled and unsure of how we did. I felt so like you did when I took the NCE, near the end I couldn’t even think anymore!

I am not surprised to see that you have an existential slant in your style at all. Dr. Yalom is incredible for sure! My supervisor says he is very accessible and is happy to email therapists back if they contact him. I have just been too scared to do it and a bit intimidated.

By: casey

casey — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:02:43 +0000

I took a big exam like this for my profession and I remember those feelings. I had to ask myself what was so bad if I failed and how would I deal with it? I remember being mostly concerned about the embarrassment. And that was it. Yea, it would cost way too much to retaked it, but I knew I could pass it. It had no bearing on my current employment. So I wouldn’t get that pay raise…I could next year. No big deal. Once I dealt with the fact that my face was all I was worried about… I didn’t worry so much. I did pass though, so I might not accurately remember those feelings. Although I can’t say how did you or whether or not you will pass. I can tell you that if you failed… I won’t judge. I recognize that really this is about you not judging yourself. Good luck and great job for even taking it!

By: Lee Ann

Lee Ann — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:33:55 +0000

“Existential psychotherapy is a approach to therapy which takes seriously the human condition. It is an optimistic approach in that it embraces human potential, while remaining a realistic approach through its recognition of human limitation. Falling in the tradition of the depth psychotherapies, existential therapy has much in common with psychodynamic, humanistic, experiential, and relational approaches to psychotherapy.” (Existential Psychotherapy)

I’m generally eclectic in my approach to working with clients, but I subscribe heavily to the existential approach. I believe in working with people to find or assign some meaning to the “bad stuff” that happens. I think it’s a very effective approach for helping people move toward acceptance of diabetes since illness does present some existential quandaries for people. It probably goes without saying, but I also believe self-disclosure is a valuable therapeutic tool. Within an existential framework, the nature of the relationship between client and therapist is much difference from that of the relationship within something like a psychoanalytic framework in which the therapist presents themselves as a tabula rasa. If you’re interested in it, check into Irving Yalom. He’s one of my favorite authors of books on psychotherapy – readable and accessible, even for non-mental health professionals.

By: tmana

tmana — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:22:34 +0000

I’ll bite: existentialism as a theory of psychotherapy? I had too much existentialist literature rammed down me in English and French classes to see it as anything more than the advocacy of superfice over substance and something with which to torture us students…