Client "Ju", Session January 17, 2013: Client is apprehensive about returning to work, discusses health and weight myths. trial

in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Collection by Anonymous Male Therapist; presented by Anonymous (Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street, 2013), 1 page(s)

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO FILE:


BEGIN TRANSCRIPT:

CLIENT: (inaudible at 0:00:12) they're disgusting. So I've been experiencing a lot of anxiety about going back to work which I don't know it's kind of hard. Because I also broke the light bulb on my light box and didn't use it for about a week while I was waiting for a new one. So that was sort of I got the new bulb on Monday. And I'm just like yes, slowly getting more able to stay awake.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: But...

THERAPIST: When do you go back to work? I'm a little slightly (ph) confused about your work. [0:01:01] So why are we not meeting Mondays now because we didn't meet last week Monday?

CLIENT: Oh no, except I was going back later initially.

THERAPIST: I'm not upset. I'm just confused.

CLIENT: Yea. No, I originally thought I was going to be going back...

THERAPIST: Oh, OK.

CLIENT: ...on the 21st or 28th. And now it's going to be (inaudible at 0:01:26).

THERAPIST: All right, yea.

CLIENT: And I'm still very much I'm feeling very nervous about even like I don't know all of it. Like picking a day or a time, filling out the forms. [0:02:03] I don't know. Like Monday I woke up completely like just woke up, was just super anxious and kind of paranoid all day for no reason. I mean, I kind of I was just like oh, God. This is so and I was kind of thinking well, maybe it's just lack of light or whatever. And then I was kind of like oh, right. It's because I'm worried about going back to work and I have to fill out paperwork that I don't want to do. So I am no longer waking up just filled with anxiety which is good.

THERAPIST: That's good.

CLIENT: Yea, I really prefer that. (chuckling) But I don't know. It's just I guess part of it is one of those things where I mean, yea, theoretically work has to make reasonable accommodations. [0:03:04] But reasonable.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: And there's this thing where they are like, "Well, you still have to be able to do your job." Like whatever job that you...

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: ...had, you still have to be able to do it which I can. I just feels nervous. I mean, I guess it's one of those things where is someone still wants to fire you, they just can like in the end.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: So I think essentially there's always like you can always kind of come up with a way to fire someone. It might take a while. But like so if they decide to hit someone for like you were late five minutes reprimand, reprimand, reprimand. Or you took an hour and ten minutes for lunch. [0:04:02]

So that makes me worried. And also I don't I just I guess I just don't trust my workplace at all to be accommodating. So the IT manager I remember when I was like coming back from fibroids and I said like I couldn't I can't like do certain things for a while. He basically was like, "Come on, really? Come on. Surely you can." And so that was awkward as hell. And so I'm sure he's probably going to do that again because he's just like he's just kind of that guy. [0:05:00]

And Chet's (ph) probably going to be kind of squirrely because I'm like yea, the first person that you supervise who's gone on two weeks on health leaves. Have fun. And plus whatever accommodations Harvey (ph) is going to have to pay for which they won't want to. And I don't know. My physical therapist has said that she's been totally confident I can do it physically. But she's like, "I have noticed that you need like some more reassurance to gain the confidence that you can get stronger and you can go in." And I guess I'm not so much worried about the physical I mean, I'm a little bit worried about how tiring it will be, et cetera. [0:05:58] But that's not really it. It's more I'm worried about everyone else. Not everyone else. That's not true. I'm worried about everyone like sort of management above me being more frustrating or other things. (pause)

THERAPIST: Well, I guess it seems to me to sort of in a way follows pretty closely on what we've been talking about including (inaudible at 0:06:59). It seems like the conviction you have that nobody who matters or nobody of authority is going to pay any attention at all to what you need, to what's going on with you, to what's hurtful to you.

CLIENT: Yea. I can feel like lip service at best. But...

THERAPIST: Which is usually worse than nothing.

CLIENT: Yes.

THERAPIST: Because it provides the appearance and sort of kind of like possible deniability in a way.

CLIENT: Yea, totally. If they feel like, "Well, but X person said that they will work on this." And they're really concerned and they will have improved. [0:08:10] And then nothing happens.

THERAPIST: Yea, I would imagine that in addition to the sort of, I guess, physical danger that feel from going back to work there's also the emotional danger of anticipating that you're going be ignored (inaudible at 0:08:37). Your pain can be sort of be minimized. And it will make you like sort of personally and emotionally feel awful.

CLIENT: Yea. I'm also I'm used to and think of myself as like, oh yea. Now I can just kind of go in there and push things around or...

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: ...lift or like kind of do whatever. [0:09:08] I'm used to thinking like my main limitation is my limitations are I can't always reach things or like I'm short. And I can't hug things because of my chest because I have big breasts. So I'm like if my arms are like spin my arms up well enough, whatever. But usually I'm like, yea. I can totally do that. And now I'm trying to sort of work with nope, I probably can't. Like my first impulse is still going to be to kind of jump in both feet. And now it really should be more like carefully walk and support yourself while walking and like (pause) [0:10:05]

I think well, the other thing I've thought and been thinking about is so joint problems. There's one of those graphic things where the doctor our doctor will say to lose weight or the reason why you have joint problems because you're fat.

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: And if you lose weight, it will get better which I hate and I'm not going to do. But it also kind of like having a mobility problem kind of puts me in the thick the bad fat person category. Where it's not like I'm fat and super fit. And running around and doing everything. It's like I'm fat and also my hips are fucked up. So instead of being like, "No, fat people are totally physically active and healthy," which has a lot of its own problems. [0:11:06] And now I feel like so it's awesome to promote the idea that you can be fat and healthy. But I think for a lot of people it can become it's only OK to be fat if you're really athletic and fit...

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: ...and running around. And so any illness regardless of what like the source is because you're fat.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: I was actually watching this documentary last night that was kind of terrible. And it started out with this the director. His dad was fat and had been like steadily gaining weight. And through this particular whole documentary about how eating soul food making his dad fat and he's going to get sick and die. [0:12:01] And why is soul food is so bad for you. So two thirds of the documentary is him talking about how he's so worried that his dad is going to die from diabetes or fatness or heart disease.

His father actually dies from pancreatic cancer which has nothing to do with it. And he's like, "But it was still because he was fat because maybe he ate too much red meat or diet soda or whatever." I'm like no, it's really just...

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: It's horrible but...

THERAPIST: (inaudible at 0:12:32) that he had pancreatic cancer, yea.

CLIENT: Yea, like that's it. It has nothing to do with fatness. And it just sort of really what struck me is I'm like you can't even you can't let go of that fat will kill you narrative even when...

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: ...it didn't happen.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: And his whole family is like, "Yea, it's really terrible that that happened because of all that soul food."

THERAPIST: Right. It's a whole other step from denial with reality. [0:13:02] And because pancreatic cancer has nothing to do with losing fat.

CLIENT: Exactly. (pause)

THERAPIST: What are the I don't know thinking this is too much because I don't want to sidetrack you. But I'm curious like I don't know much about it. My understanding was that there is some health risks associated with being fatter. But...

CLIENT: It's more like there are health risks associated with dieting a lot and yo-yo dieting...

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: ...which are things that fat people do a lot.

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: So there's that.

THERAPIST: I think also I heard like with inactivity which may not be correlated to fatness.

CLIENT: Right. Or like a lot of things that fat people do like consuming diet soda or creepy chemically enhanced low calorie foods it seems like that's more likely the problem. [0:14:13]

THERAPIST: And so not the fattening foods if the fat person had eaten them which they may not have at all.

CLIENT: Right.

THERAPIST: But other stuff.

CLIENT: Yea. And so and also like there are people who are fat who are vegetarians and vegans and like all that.

THERAPIST: Sure.

CLIENT: So there's like kind of like all that part. And then there's that it's really, really hard to lose weight and keep it off, period. So even if it mysteriously was the problem because like 80 or 90 percent of people when they diet gain their weight back plus more.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: So it's not really a solution. [0:15:05] It's also kind of one of those things where it's like, well, one of my good friends was born with her legs with two different lengths. And so it was really hard for her to walk because (inaudible at 0:15:17) . And so she got fairly fat because she's very sedentary. And the stress got put on her joints mostly because like for a variety of things she ended up getting weight loss surgery to try to alleviate that.

And she's talked about it. I've talked to her about it a lot. And she's kind of like, "Well, I mean, I had weight loss surgery. At the time I felt like that was the only option. My doctors where like basically if you don't get weight loss surgery, you're going to be in a wheelchair," et cetera. [0:16:00] And now she's not she's like, "Well, I did it and it happened. But I don't know if I would do it again."

I mean, part of her is was she couldn't exercise very easily because of her legs. And she still can't. But yet, I mean, that's when it's always kind of (inaudible at 0:16:29). I mean, I start to think about her is I think weight loss surgeries I think like it probably kind of helped for her because of like a wide variety of reasons. But it also causes other weird health problems like she has to eat very, very small portions of food because otherwise your stomach gets too full. And she has to really like monitor how much protein and vegetables and everything that she's getting. [0:17:07] And it's weird. I don't know. If it wasn't the it's not really a magic fix, I guess if that makes sense. Like it was pretty like when she got it done, she was like, "OK. This is going to be it."

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: And her legs still hurt and her hips still hurt.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: And like it's a pain. And...

THERAPIST: I mean, well, again. I don't want start talking too much (inaudible at 0:17:40) for me. And you were talking about being cast as like a bad fat person rather than a good, active...

CLIENT: Well, I mean, I think I had cast myself as like a good, active, eating healthy kind of person for a long time because I generally eat healthy and I don't know. [0:18:09] And my blood pressure is great. My cholesterol is awesome. And now I feel like it's kind of it's a little bit biting me in the ass because I'm like, oh well, this is me. I still think it's fine for me to be the way that I am. But if someone were to be like, "Oh, well, do you have mobility problems because you're fat?" I'm like, "Well, no. I mean, I have to brace my hip but it's not really related." But I know I think it opens the door to, "Well, but if you just lost weight, you'd feel better,"

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: ...which yea.

THERAPIST: Right. Yea, you can't say, "Well, actually I am quite active and do all sorts of things." [0:19:01] Because you can't anymore completely unrelated to your weight but because of your hip.

CLIENT: Right. And I guess also like I feel frustrated that like things that some things that I like to do which are physical I haven't been able to do. And I probably will be able to do like in time. I will probably be able to do again but it's going to take a while. The physical therapist was like, "Yea, you're basically going to spend the rest of your life stretching out your hip and trying to keep it flexible." I'm like, "OK."

THERAPIST: That sucks.

CLIENT: Yea. The only nice thing about is I'm like, well, at some point I can have a really awesome cane to assist me when I'm walking. (laughing) Mostly because I know of people who have some awesome who have really awesome canes. [0:20:00] But it's also like when people write like obesity epidemic articles. One of the things that always is I'm like, oh, she's so fat. She's scooter fat. She has to move around in a scooter because she's just so fat.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: And so I think it's just such a I don't know. It's like a big scare mongering button. I didn't really expect to I don't know. Like I've never really expected myself to be on the, I guess, other side of like my mobility is impaired and I am fat. [0:21:01] And so now there's like another sort of glare of like I'm the bad fat person who is walking really slow...

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: ...or whatever. (pause) And it's also one of those things where I'm like of course any of my friends, I'd be like, "Oh no, it's totally fine. What are you talking about?" But I feel a certain level of like oh, God. It sucks that I can't be like super physically active fat person. But like...

THERAPIST: Right. Like your friends always supportive about it and you'd be supportive to them. But I see. You're still feeling like you fit into the...

CLIENT: Negative stereotype. [0:22:08]

THERAPIST: Right, yea. No, I was wondering that sort of many times it's like it's not stereotypes perhaps. Like I was sort of thinking that you fit into that. But even...

CLIENT: What stereotype was it?

THERAPIST: It was like there was this like psychological thing where someone who is part of a like marginalized group winds up dealing identified with the negative image of the more dominant culture. And it affects things like performance. [0:22:57] So like a kind of experiment with Stanford undergraduates where he got I would say about 100 like (inaudible at 0:23:10) seminary undergraduates where he gave divided them in two groups gave them the same test. Told one group it was a test of creativity and creative problem solving or something. Told the other half there were problems on the test and the group he gave he told them it was an intelligence test did significantly worse.

So I think the explanation I don't know a lot about the story but the explanation in terms of the stereotype threat that where they kind of felt like they had picked up on this cultural thing where how they're not supposed to do as well on (inaudible at 0:23:47) test. And so basically in their minds they underperformed that kind of thing. Just using that...

CLIENT: Yea. I feel like I'm stereotyped over to her. Because I think it's very common like I'm just I so much don't want people to think of the negative stereotype. [0:24:05] Or to be like, no.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: It's not true.

THERAPIST: Right. And that's what you're talking about now about the mobility. Because like you don't want to it's not that you're sort of unconsciously getting in the way of your mobility because of activities because you're responding to stereotype threat that you yea, your stereotype overachieving whatever. Yea. I remember that then.

I think like the whole thing around the stereotype overachieving that tends to happen for you where you sort of do that. [0:24:59] And then worry a lot about being stereotyped that way anyway which you often are. And then it's incredibly painful partly going to be painful in any case. And partly because you're working hard at overachieving in a way that's sort of makes you quite inconsistent with how you're being stereotyped in the first place like at work.

CLIENT: Yea, definitely. I mean, it's also like I think that this is my dad's primary coping mechanism for...

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: ...discrimination especially at work. I mean, what he said to me was, "Just work harder than everyone else and outlast them," which is not really helpful for me. [0:26:01] I mean, he's basically like yes, people will like it's true that people will discriminate on an aggregate level.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: But I don't know that always working harder...

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: ...is necessarily the best.

THERAPIST: Oh, I see. So he well, it's funny. I heard it in a different way than you meant it. I heard it like just keep working and outlast them because then you'll still be around and they'll be gone.

CLIENT: It's sort of both.

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: It's one my dad is always like, "You should be working 110 percent (inaudible at 0:26:39)."

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: He worked when I was a kid like 12 hour work days a lot.

THERAPIST: Just a very hard worker.

CLIENT: Yea. And (inaudible at 0:26:50) he'll still be there when they're gone.

THERAPIST: Right. But like the other side of it is, and if you do that, you kind of you won't be as vulnerable to kind of being treated badly. [0:27:08]

CLIENT: Yea. Or I don't even know. Like...

THERAPIST: I guess that was the part I thought you were saying (inaudible at 0:27:21)...

CLIENT: Oh yea. No. I think I guess what I tend my dad said this. What he said before is sort of like it's not that you won't like it's not that you won't feel vulnerable or be vulnerable. It's just that like fuck them and outlast them.

THERAPIST: OK. All right, yea. That makes sense to me.

CLIENT: Yea. No, I mean, it's part of my problem doesn't really address like which I've probably done before I'm like well, what about how it really sucks to have to work X times harder or deal with all of these...

(Crosstalk)

CLIENT: Right.

THERAPIST: And you've got to deal with the pain that goes on with that.

CLIENT: And he's just kind of like, "Mmm." He doesn't answer...

THERAPIST: I see.

CLIENT: ...which in some ways he did HR for a really long time. And part of his job included he did a lot of recruiting of minority students from colleges and like (inaudible at 0:28:34) and some blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I'm just like, "Dad, I'm pretty sure in the workplace this came up at some point." But and I'm like, "And I'm sure you had some response other than work harder." But that's like not I'm not getting that (inaudible at 0:29:00). (pause)

THERAPIST: Well yea, and I guess through all of it. That doesn't address the problem you tend to have, I don't think, which is more like being subjected really emotionally painful sometimes devastating things happening at work, right? I mean, more so than I mean, the person is usually like you're being criticized for the quality of your work. Or I guess sometimes it's somebody being something that you're not. (inaudible at 0:30:06). But a lot of it seems to be like how much it hurts. I think more so than like is this true? Because there's been some things we've talked about or at least that I mean, where like that video or with Chet (ph) or maybe with Will (ph) kind of getting away treating the ways he did. Where it's not just the pain of where somebody gets something you don't. Or...

CLIENT: Yea, I mean, I think a lot of it or some parts of it are is like say someone will ask like the room like these really boring weekly team games. So there are 12 of us in the room. And our team manager will be like, "Oh, does anyone have any suggestions about X?" And if I have a suggestion, he's just not going to listen to it. [0:31:01] Or like it's one of those like if I say it, he's going to go blah. If one of the guys says it, he'll be like, "Oh, that's a good what an interesting idea." And so like I also don't get to I mean, part of what was driving me crazy with like (inaudible at 0:31:22) is that I'm like I demonstrably have more experience in this area than you do...

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: ...a lot. And no one cares. It's not that no one cares. It's like if I say based on my 10 years of blogging or online or whatever, I think X. The response is, "Well, but Willl (ph) kind of said something else and he has a blog." And I'm like, "That's amazing." They don't care. Like...

THERAPIST: He's a guy.

CLIENT: Yea.

THERAPIST: And he's white (inaudible at 0:31:59).

CLIENT: Yea, the white waspy guy. And so (inaudible at 0:32:05) hired an assistant, Jackie (ph). And I actually applied for that job. And I'm glad I didn't get it. I know. I was like thank God they wouldn't they didn't.

THERAPIST: Right. But still I...

CLIENT: Yea. And I wasn't even like I didn't even get the courtesy interview.

THERAPIST: Wow.

CLIENT: I know. I'm just like, guys, you suck because it was not MLS (ph) required. It was like encouraged. The most important thing is experience in the field. And...

THERAPIST: Do you know why?

CLIENT: Why I wasn't considered?

THERAPIST: It doesn't sound like it was gender-ish. It was (inaudible at 0:32:53).

CLIENT: She's a really white, waspy woman.

THERAPIST: OK.

CLIENT: I think it was that.

THERAPIST: Yea.

CLIENT: Like A, she doesn't have a spine. [0:33:01] But if we were to think of who were the biggest wasps in the building at the time, it would be him and then her in like a blonde, twin sets, pearls kind of way. In one way I'm like I don't I can't really exist. That you really do. Yep.

THERAPIST: And she had trouble using a Mac, right?

CLIENT: Yep. Oh yea, but cute, very presentable, waspy, Ivy League image. I mean, it was to me, it was a little bit in a horrible way like how a lot of times when you do like receptionist work. They want you to be pretty. Or they want they pick the most attractive person to [be your representation] (ph). [0:34:02] So at least part of that was, wow. She's like kind of this like little waspy Barbie doll preppy Barbie doll which is a horrible thing to say. So but she kind of is. Like it's not that she is stupid but like her visual presentation skills like just like how she looked I would say outstripped her ability to present extemporaneously, for example.

And also so not a lot of people I really have a hard time people are rarely a lot of people at IT or actually even more so people who are in IT that are like wanting to hire or like social media consultants are like what are someone knows the about the Internet. They don't believe me when I say like I've been online for a really long time because I don't look like what they think that would be which would be like...

THERAPIST: A nerdy white guy?

CLIENT: Yea. And one of my friend who is a nerdy white guy, he jokes that like he's one of the fat bearded white guys who runs the Internet.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: Or yea, fat, bearded and grumpy. And all of it is true. And he makes it as a joke but sometimes I'm like, "Yea." Why your joke is quite hilarious.

THERAPIST: Yea, right.

CLIENT: So he's definitely like someone who is like I mean, he does also do consulting [Internet crap] (ph) and people are like oh yea, totally. [0:36:08] And like my friend Ella (ph) who is a sure awesome Latino chick in Berkeley. When she had a long time to where people being convinced that she was (inaudible at 0:36:24) when she would go to conventions and she's like and...

THERAPIST: I'm the CTO (ph) or something like that.

CLIENT: Yea. And you're like, "Ah, awkward." And she's saying that I mean, at this point that doesn't happen as much anymore. And she mentioned that when she was massively pregnant and still doing conventions and like this events, people were really sure she was not a good pick because...

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: Yea. Huge belly. But yea. [0:36:59] And I think that it's one of those place where having gone to Cambridge doesn't really help because I think people I don't think people well, it just depends. Because I think for a while people would go, "Oh, Cambridge. You obviously know what you're doing." But I think with a lot Internet and online things, people have a vague idea that it's not necessarily something that you might learn in college. Like you I probably never took a class in the Internet which is true and a lot of people are self-taught or blah, blah, blah. I guess an Cal Tech degree probably people would probably take that more seriously. But I don't think people will take a Cambridge degree as being like, "Oh, it's very technical." That said, women at Cal Tech also get crap, I think. [0:38:04] But just they do have a better like Internet (inaudible at 0:38:11) network whatever it is.

THERAPIST: You mean...

CLIENT: Like in terms of like having your friend at (inaudible at 0:38:22) who's like, "Oh, there's a job here opening."

THERAPIST: Gotcha. Yea, yea, yea. Sure. [Or I'm thinking Cal Tech people don't notice] (ph).

CLIENT: And like, well, I'm kind of socially Cal Tech adjacent [near where I work] (ph). Yea, for some people the reason people don't think a Cambridge degree in (inaudible at 0:38:47), mythology and women's studies is technical. (laughing)

THERAPIST: (laughing)

CLIENT: So I still don't regret it but...

THERAPIST: Right. That I think is not the wildest assumption of the world. [0:39:01] Not to criticize your technical astuteness in any way.

CLIENT: Oh yea, totally. I mean, the thing that cracks what does always crack me up though is like the degrees of people I know who have high up like serious business IT jobs. Like almost not like I'm sure...

THERAPIST: Not on the regular side.

CLIENT: Like yea, a tiny handful that's yes.

THERAPIST: Sure. Yea, I would imagine CS people usually want to do different things. But they want to do R&D programming or something like that.

CLIENT: Yea, like the programmers I know, a lot of it is yes. But I'm like geology, English, just like other crap. Or they dropped out or but at an HR level, I think that's I don't know. Like HR is not yet convinced that being a college dropout is in fact, an awesome way to get computer skills. [0:40:06] Even though in some ways it totally is. Bill Gates.

THERAPIST: Right, Bill. And Zuckerburg too, right?

CLIENT: I can't remember. I think you're right. I think that he actually just left as opposed to yea. (inaudible at 0:40:26) I know. It just feel like periodically I think like Facebook like Zuckerburg is not I mean, he's certainly someone with a lot of computer skills. But like that wasn't his...

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: None of this was his plan.

THERAPIST: Right. Yea, like Bill Gates really had some chops. I guess, yea.

CLIENT: Yea, like Gates had technical chops and Zuckerburg kind of had other backwards stumbling into something really awesome which is also a lot of things that like that's a lot of companies. It's like, oh oops thing. [0:41:11] It's also weird to me because I remember I think I still have my freshman Facebook which is what Facebook came from.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: And it's ooh, it's the paper copy that they weren't allowed to distribute outside of Cambridge. And now... (pause)

THERAPIST: I guess it's also like a lot of, why do I have to go back to work? Or why it's that's not why you don't want to go back but why it's scary. [0:42:02]

CLIENT: Yea. I mean, yea. I feel like it's scary. And a lot of it is so I don't know up in the air or subject to interpretation, et cetera, that which is good in some ways. It's but it also makes me really nervous because of someone saying like, "And I disagree with your interpretation of that." I guess that's what's worried me the most current is my letter my doctor read a letter that's saying like the end of February there should be a reevaluation of my ability to work part time or full time. [0:43:06] So I mean, the reevaluation is actually me going, "I'm really too tired."

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: Or this is too difficult. But that's not a quantifiable objective. It's not like they're going to measure something.

THERAPIST: Right. And I assume you are going to your doctor and not the people at work. Is that right?

CLIENT: Yea. Like my doctor is not going it's not like my doctor is going she's basically going to ask me like, "How do you feel?"

THERAPIST: Yea. And I've been the doctor on that one. When people take leave for mental health reasons. And we're trying to figure out when it makes sense to go back. And it's exactly what I do. Sort of like well, do it. [0:44:00]

CLIENT: Yea. I'm just worried that HR because they part of the thing is like they HR's doctor can be like, "No. We disagree." Or at least that's the paperwork let me rephrase that. When one of the things was like HR can request another doctor to make an assessment which I don't know that it happens.

THERAPIST: Yea. I've done that probably not that many two or three times. And have also like observed the psychiatrist involved and then you have seen that then? I never heard of anything like that happening. That doesn't mean it couldn't happen. But maybe that's not helpful.

CLIENT: No, it is helpful.

THERAPIST: But like I HRs tend to be pretty respectful and accommodating of why the psychiatrist thought and then maybe touchy around mental health too. They may be like, "Oh OK, mental health." But by and large, it doesn't seem like that would be so. [0:45:00]

CLIENT: I actually think they'd be more like they could be like, "Meh. I'm sure they're fine."

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: I mean, this I say that at least (inaudible at 0:45:16) HR has been that's causing mental problems, we don't give a crap. So...

THERAPIST: Yea. Yea, I mean, this way when you have a disorder like from being out for a while. But I don't know.

CLIENT: Yea. No, it strikes me as...

THERAPIST: Or it's coming from me and not the person.

CLIENT: Yea. No, I feel like yea. I do think like if someone but if like you are out on a leave with mental health problems, that's going be a little bit more serious business.

THERAPIST: Right.

CLIENT: As opposed to saying this is really stressing me out. [0:45:59]

THERAPIST: Right. We got to stop for now. So our Tuesday, Wednesday of next week...

CLIENT: Yep.

THERAPIST: And I will I'm still working on Thursday. I guess we'll just have to see.

CLIENT: OK. Thank you.

THERAPIST: Sure.

END TRANSCRIPT

1
Abstract / Summary: Client is apprehensive about returning to work, discusses health and weight myths.
Field of Interest: Counseling & Therapy
Publisher: Alexander Street Press
Content Type: Session transcript
Format: Text
Page Count: 1
Page Range: 1-1
Publication Year: 2013
Publisher: Alexander Street
Place Published / Released: Alexandria, VA
Subject: Counseling & Therapy; Psychology & Counseling; Health Sciences; Theoretical Approaches to Counseling; Physical issues; Work; Teoria do Aconselhamento; Teorías del Asesoramiento; Physical disabilities; Job security; Obesity; Diet; Psychoanalytic Psychology; Psychotherapy
Clinician: Anonymous
Keywords and Translated Subjects: Teoria do Aconselhamento; Teorías del Asesoramiento
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