Call the Psychiatrists

Who is responsible for setting the agenda in a therapy session?

Angie wonders if it’s really up to her to bring up hard topics with her therapist. 
Chelsea’s therapist (8:48) doesn’t ask questions about her life, making her feel like her therapist doesn’t care about her.  
Finally, Claire’s therapist (17:31) likes to explore the topics that interest him and she finds herself trying to please him by playing up those aspects of her l...

On this episode Karol asks for our opinion on The 5 Love Languages: are they useful or are they harmful?

The study we referenced from University of Toronto which summarizes recent attempts at empirically validating the "love languages" can be found here. 

In part 2 (19:30), a listener feels like her therapist is not on her side and said something hurtful to her on purpose. We discuss confrontations and countertransference among oth...

 Krystal’s therapist would prefer she not use marijuana before a session even though she thinks it would be helpful to loosen her "emotional logjam". 

Michael (17:02) questions his decision to be a therapist and whether he is actually helping anyone. We discuss possible burnout and steps Michael could consider before making any major career changes. 

We have an update from Rachel from episode 40 (29:18) who feels bad she didn't end...

On this episode a listener’s therapist hid behind a magazine after they saw each other in public. 

Yazmin (12:31) wonders if therapy could be helpful for the grief she’s experiencing a year after her husband died. The resource about prolonged grief at Columbia University can be found here.

A listener (21:20) gave a thank you card to their therapist but he didn’t acknowledge it which is creating distance in the relationship. The ver...

On this episode Yolanda has a question about the moments before and after a therapy session. Lindsay specifically wonders about her preference for the relationship she has with her therapist at this periphery of the therapeutic encounter 

Jim (18:14) worries that he may be too smart for therapy to work.

Marion (25:49) wants to know if it would be weird to give her therapist a thank you note.

If you have questions or feedback please...

On this episode a listener’s therapist has started rubbing her back when she’s upset and she wonders if this is normal.
Then we return to questions about vacation: A listener (9:03) is upset by their therapist’s upcoming vacation and is thinking of not going back to the office; Beth’s therapist (16:08) just got back from vacation and they’re having a hard time getting re-connected; and a therapist asks (23:48) how we prioritize our...

Alice and her husband see the same therapist individually and as a couple. The therapist told Alice’s husband they should get a divorce.

At (12:43) a 17 year-old listener feels like there are things he can’t talk to his therapist about after she disclosed her religious identity.

If you have questions or feedback please send a message (voicemail or email) on our website: https://www.callthepsychiatrists.com 

You can also message us ...

Larissa was nervous during her first online therapy session with Betterhelp and wants some tips on how to be prepared for the next session. She was told the first session "is where the magic begins".

An anonymous listener (16:57) has a history of stalking their therapist and has the desire to repeat those behaviors with a new therapist. They feel ashamed and want to stop.

If you have questions or feedback please send a message (voi...

Danny has mixed emotions about Father's Day. He’s trying to balance his needs with the demands of parenting and wants to hear more about fatherhood. He’s also curious if being psychiatrists changes our views on parenting. 

Michelle (34:30) is a newly minted therapist and has questions about the role of transference and countertransference in our sessions. She’d also like to know if we have advice for someone just starting out as a ...

Therese’s feelings have been hurt by her therapist but she feels invalidated each time she brings it up.

Candice (15:51) feels ashamed of being in therapy and wants to be more comfortable with the idea of talking to others about it. 

Lila (30:40) wonders about Oprah’s advice to be your own best friend. David guesses these sentiments come out of the story of codependency. We end with some discussion of the Oprah empire and Abby's un...

We have 3 listener questions. In the first question Keith wants to know how therapists determine whether a session is good or bad. 
Then Ellen (11:35) tries to make sense of her reaction after her therapist names something in her past as abuse.
Finally, Jane (17:42) was frozen at the end of her last therapy session and wonders if it’s worth going back. 

Feedback is at 10:52.

If you have questions or feedback please send a message (...

In the first question a listener wonders why her therapist is talking about her in supervision. She's curious about what supervision is and how therapists make use of it. 

In the second question (23:47) a listener is concerned that she feels jealous about the client her therapist is seeing before her. Abby expresses outrage on the listener's behalf and we offer lots of speculation. (The listener asked to remain anonymous. We call h...

In the first question a listener feels slighted by her therapist's cancellation policy. We start by discussing these policies more generally. It's a little dry but the discussion gets better by 12:25 when we talk about our listener's specific situation.

In the second question (17:50), someone's therapist has suggested increasing the frequency of their sessions and beginning psychoanalysis. He wants to know what the benefits of this...

In the first question, a listener gets really nervous around her therapist and wonders if it’s even worth it.

Our second question (at the 16:40 minute mark) is from someone who wonders why her therapist isn’t talking about the diagnosis on her invoice. We take a few tangents including: the perils of overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis; the limitations of our diagnostic system; the over-identification with labels. It has a slight soapb...

In the first question a listener is struggling with her boyfriend's need to crowdsource information before making any decisions--from sharing personal details of their relationship with his family to checking Reddit to find the best pasta sauce. 

We start by discussing the lack of boundaries in the family. At 09:45 we start offering some advice on how to navigate the dilemma (it gets better the more you listen). At 14:19 we pivot t...

This episode is all about interpretations. We have questions from both sides of the therapy room. 

The first question comes from a listener who is a therapist. She wonders how to recover from the sting when an interpretation she makes doesn’t land well. 

The second question (18 minute mark) is from someone in therapy with a similar problem: how does she  move forward when she isn’t in agreement with her psychiatrist's observations....

A listener finds security in her therapist's office and wonders about the thought that goes into the decor of an office. 

Our second question (starting at the 16 minute mark) comes from someone longing for her therapist and is curious where this comes from and why she monitors his physical appearance and body language so closely. 

Finally (at minute 24), a mother plans to stop her kids from playing football but is concerned about t...