Posted by fallsfall on November 9, 2003, at 9:32:52
In reply to Re: No specialist for me- yet » Dinah, posted by Poet on November 8, 2003, at 11:18:11
Therapists are used to talking about the ugliness of insurance issues. You can certainly say to her "If I see an eating disorders therapist it will need to be covered by my insurance or I can't afford it [particularly since she knows that you am paying out of pocket for her]. My insurance requires that therapists be either MDs or PhDs. Can you refer me to a PhD for this?". This is simply business. You shouldn't feel badly about talking about this. If you don't talk about it, then she may make an MSW referral that you can't use.
It may be possible that you could see an eating disorders person for a couple of sessions, and that they could make an assessment and recommend a strategy that your current therapist can then carry out. You could see this as more of a consultation - someone for your therapist to learn from and get ideas from. Perhaps your therapist could brief the specialist on your history so that you don't have to go through it all again with another therapist.
I think that if a therapist says that they think you should see a specialist that they are saying that they see that you need help that they don't know how to give you. Just like if your GP said that your heart sounds funny and that you should go to a cardiologist (who can listen to your heart with the same kind of stethoscope, but knows exactly what is going on by the way your heart sounds). The specialist just brings more in-depth knowledge of the particular area where your problem is to the table. Then the specialist turns you back over to your regular doctor.
See if you can work out with your therapist a way that makes seeing a specialist the least painful for you (not having to do your whole history?) and the most beneficial for her (have the specialist talk directly to her and not rely on you to carry the information back to your therapist?).
A friend seems to be going through a similar problem. She is afraid to dive into an issue because she is concerned about what she will find. So she is determined to FORCE the issue to be "all better" so that it doesn't have to be examined. I am worried that "forcing" just forces the issue underground (and that it will come up again later), while looking at the issue might actually solve the problem.
Good luck
poster:fallsfall
thread:277485
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20031030/msgs/277882.html