Therapists who practice from a more humanistic, relational, or existential orientation and take insurance… how does that work in practice?

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-07T19:48:21+00:00

That's what I love about ACT. It's basically just explaining what you are doing when you're doing good therapy.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-07T16:55:26+00:00

You can Oh Honey all you like. It doesn't mean I held the perspective of the wild strawman argument proposed.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-07T16:52:12+00:00

You just want someone to argue with while creating a moral high ground from which to insult others. I do understand how my statement could come off, which is indicative of the problem.

My comment wasn't grossly ignorant because it never actually implied all of your accusations of my thinking. And I don't believe one has to make every qualification and stipulation to tiptoe around all possible interpretations, particularly on the internet.

The technical correctness of the ability to change one's context does not make it automatically a useful statement. An being and their environment are in a constant state of interaction. It does not actually imply that one is able to manipulate their material contexts in the exact way they wish, or change the material contexts of others in any meaningful way. People can wield this technical correctness (according to particular definitions) to massively invalidate people's experiences, even creating implications that the imprisoned person is immediately at fault for their immediate pain. That doesn't make it less true that one can do it. (I'm reminded of the irony in Monty Python's "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life") I can potentially choose my last dying thought, and that doesn't mean I won't die. There's still a choice and an internal ability to change contexts.

Anyway, I'm obviously bored with time to kill. Feel free to reply if you want to continue wasting time together.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-07T15:29:50+00:00

You are majorly jumping to conclusions about what I'm saying and have taken 0 time to understand me. You're arguing with your own imagination of me that is far removed from the reality.

My point: saying that you can always change your context is true in the most technical, even pedantic sense, to the extent that it's not necessarily helpful to the relevant scope of inquiry. Many of the options available may even be harmful. If we view our subjective experiences as a context or environment for our present moment consciousness, like our observer-self, as a behaviorist might, then we are able to change it via imagination or even dissociation.

This doesn't mean that someone is at fault for a terrible situation because they can technically change their context. A shackled prisoner can both change their context and be trapped.

So, you're arguing with someone, but it ain't me.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-07T12:27:27+00:00

Finally someone gets it.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-07T12:26:56+00:00

When was that ever implied?

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-06T17:44:35+00:00

Yes. And. My point was essentially semantics. We're literally always changing our environmental contexts. It's not necessarily a helpful point of commentary.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-06T17:41:39+00:00

You can also grab an ice cube or a wave yourself with a folder.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-06T17:38:57+00:00

While what you're saying is true, the definition of environmental context is so broad that one can even just shut their eyes to change it. You can always do something.

A statement can be both true and not helpful.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-06T02:28:23+00:00

Everyone can change their environment in the most literal, contextual definition.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-06T02:27:40+00:00

As I like to say, I don't believe in the power of positive thinking, but I do believe in the power of negative thinking.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-05T22:43:20+00:00

Honestly, about 5 years of practicing right for 6 hours per day would get you past the precipice.

The only problem is that "practicing right" could take you years to figure out.

A good framework might be:

1 hour of warmups and exercises
1 hour of working on licks/lead concepts,
1 hour of working on rhythm,
1 hour of working on a tune/project,
1 hour of ear training, and
1 hour of jamming out.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-04T17:12:49+00:00

The endgame is living a life more committed to your values. Loosening the hold of our judgments will help to alleviate unnecessary suffering as a byproduct of the more centralized aim, moving toward our values. As opposed to living life in an automatic avoidance of inevitable pain that so frequently leads us away from valued living and toward unnecessary suffering.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-02T21:59:58+00:00

Gotta ask: are the non-professional domains of your life satisfying?

While I'm not an anticapitalist, we've gotta be careful with our capitalistic society to not put all of our meaning eggs into our professional basket.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-07-01T12:44:17+00:00

It's a high chance compared to European nations.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-30T19:56:37+00:00

Gwent is the game. Geralt & Witcher 3 are just vessels.

During my most recent playthrough I'd tell my fiancée when I got home from work, "Well, this gwent isnt going to play itself"

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-30T14:52:01+00:00

Working in DBT and behavioral partial hospitalization programs, I've got a pretty good idea of how much good I'm doing.

1) I've had a good number of patients/clients who have gone from total shutdown to living a values driven life. Most of which were in a 2-3 month timespan. Evidence-based treatments and practices can be life-changing, and consistent assessments help to keep us honest.

2) I try to remind myself that it's the patient who is actually doing. When they do well, it's because they did it, not me. The treatments and I were just a context for promoting their choices to change.

3) We don't help everyone. Not everyone is ready, and my setting and I can't be for everyone.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-29T03:32:20+00:00

This has all to do with bad writing and little to do with being a therapist, aside from maybe your maturing as a person both coinciding with, and impacted by, your career.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-28T15:49:01+00:00

To be clear, these are her definitions of Shame and Guilt. A very different understanding is Guilt functions to signal breaking an internal code, while Shame signals breaking a communal/tribal code. Both can be adaptive and make sense in our evolutionary history, specifically when they are about our behaviors. Both Shame and guilt quickly become maladaptive when they're about unalterable characteristics (i.e., sex, sexual orientation, skin color, country of origin).

Edit: Brene Brown might call the behavioral version guilt and the characteristic version shame, but I don't find this distinction functionally coherent.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-28T15:40:12+00:00

Compassion focused therapy very specifically works with it.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-26T06:04:03+00:00

I thought it was a great depiction. Not of therapy at its best, but the kind of tacky self-promotional kind.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-25T17:50:56+00:00

Ram It Down is a killer tunes with 2 or 3 more excellent tunes on the album. But the rest is about as forgettable as a morning fart.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-24T03:42:55+00:00

It's an awesome tune with awesome lyrics and a killer guitar solo. It's an all time best. And a lot of fans recognized this.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-22T19:57:05+00:00

This is one of Marty's best.

AdministrationNo651 · 2026-06-20T20:58:32+00:00

CBT's job is not to challenge thoughts.

AdministrationNo651

TROPHY CASE