I was inspired by my collab with
in which he emailed me questions and I answered them.Leon writes, from the UK, about what he's lived and learned. He is a (former) police officer with “lived experience” related to trauma and psychosis. I’m a huge fan of his writing. When he wrote an article about terrible therapists, I invited him to ask me any questions he wanted. And he did. I answered. It was “fun.” (I have reservations about fun in medicine. In writing— it is allowed).
This is an exciting use of the substack feature that allows for coauthor-ship. Thus, I am throwing the floodgates wide open. Fellow Substack Authors, Email me your questionnaire!
Then, add me as a Guest Author.
And we will see what happens.
Here is a example from the first collaboration…
Q. In my notes, it says I was traumatized by a house fire. I’ve seen people die in every way imaginable EXCEPT a house fire. Surely a therapist’s most important skill is the ability to listen. Why do therapists struggle with this so much?
A: I don't think listening is the most important skill. Because what we hear and what we thought we heard are rarely the same. What we hear in what someone else said and what they think we hear are rarely the same. So I think listening is good, but checking to see if you got it right is better.
That would avoid the error in transcription that you refer to above. Therapists are human. And we get things wrong. It's a feature, not a bug. But it needs an additional check:
"I had a problem in a forest fire"
"so it was a house fire?"
"no, I said it was a forest fire!"
"oh my gosh, it seems like I misheard you! What was it like for me to hear that wrong?"
Now we're doing therapy…!
I am here for your questions! They do not need to be relevant to my experience or expertise. I’ll still do my best. I’m not saying it’s going to make you famous. I am saying it a proven traction hack:
The more absurd, frankly, the better.
Who's in?
This may, or may not, be fun.
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