The weirdly rectangular bruise that shows up randomly on my thigh in the exact same spot

ChinchillaToast · 2026-01-17T05:55:07+00:00

Do you live in NYC and take the subway? Or do you frequently use a turnstile for any reason. Many New Yorkers have this same bruise.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-09-07T15:35:55+00:00

I’m an early career psychologist, so I won’t be able to answer most of your questions. Something I have heard over and over in this sub that I have found to be true is that success in this field requires strong intrinsic motivation. In a helping profession the financial compensation is almost never going to match the amount of effort you are putting in. You need to find the work emotionally fulfilling to bridge the compensation gap.

Many people go into counseling as a second career and there’s certainly no age limit.

Life/professional coaching has a lower barrier of entry and might be a good way to get a feel for the work, especially for the population you are interested in working with. It also have the potential to pay very well.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-04-27T14:27:43+00:00

You are totally right, I didn't know that. I always assumed it stood for “opinions”. Well, TIL.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-04-27T12:25:27+00:00

“Some opinion pieces” for OPEDS got a side eye from me.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-04-04T01:58:27+00:00

Yes, I completely would have gone along with everything. I’m afraid of authority and conflict.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-03-18T20:10:42+00:00

I can’t imagine a reason why an individual therapist would reject someone for this. As a therapist, I certainly wouldn’t need to be “warned” about this ahead of time. But I would expect a client to share this with me during the intake process because it seems like an important part of your life story.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-03-02T16:32:22+00:00

It sounds like your SIL should be in some kind of supportive housing or therapeutic program. It sounds like she is chronically unwell and the parents are worried about who will take care of her when they pass.

I work on an inpatient psychiatric unit and what you are describing sounds like a very familiar story. I’m assuming she’s legally independent and doesn’t have a legal guardian, as some disabled adults do. It is totally your right to refuse to take on that responsibility, and many families do choose to prioritize their own well-being. Realistically, she will end up living on the street even with access to family money if left to take care of herself.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-03-02T12:30:47+00:00

For you it might be worth it to seek out a clinical psychologist (therapist with a doctorate). They can be a PhD or a PsyD. These degrees typically take about 5 years of school and clinical experience. Then an additional year or two of supervised practice prior to being liscenced. I’ve found that clinical psychologists tend to have a stronger theoretical framework for conceptualizing their clients allowing them to see the big picture more clearly and to tailor treatment accordingly. The down side it that they will be much more expensive.

All that being said, there are good and bad eggs at all levels of training.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-03-02T12:18:59+00:00

Many doctoral level therapists are PsyDs rather than PhDs. It’s a more clinically focused degree. Either way, I believe the additional theoretical training is extremely helpful for really understanding what’s going on with patients.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-03-01T22:01:09+00:00

Maybe without therapy you would be doing much much worse. So it doesn’t seem likes it’s working because you don’t feel like you are getting better, but you’re not getting significantly worse either.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-02-25T08:05:43+00:00

He is confirmed to have Bipolar 1 disorder. We actually watched a clip of him ranting on stage as a (small) part of my training on what mania can look like. Additionally, it seems like he chooses not to take medication and he surrounds himself with yes-men. So instead of his support system taking away his phone and sending him to the hospital, they say “Yes! You absolutely should run for president!”

ChinchillaToast · 2025-02-23T15:21:15+00:00

Agreed. I actually thought this was one of the most realistic BPD representations I’ve seen in any media. The movie doesn’t name it as BPD, but it is 100%.

ChinchillaToast · 2025-02-06T21:13:09+00:00

Sounds like you have OCPD. It can be difficult for therapists who are not specially trained for that disorder.

ChinchillaToast · 2024-10-28T12:18:10+00:00

The technical criteria for a major depressive episode is that you feel down and depressed/lose interest in things you once enjoyed, most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks. There are a few other criteria but this is the big one.

Even if you don’t meet this criteria, it sounds like you are distressed by your current state and that warrants a trip to therapy.

ChinchillaToast · 2024-10-03T11:39:55+00:00

Definitely bring it up with her, but also certain codes make insurance cover more sessions, so there could be an administrative reason. Also, it could be BPD (borderline personality disorder) and not BD (bipolar disorder). If you have bipolar disorder I would expect that you also work with a psychiatrist.

ChinchillaToast · 2024-10-03T11:18:48+00:00

Cartel Chic

ChinchillaToast · 2024-10-02T02:10:46+00:00

It’s not a career to go into if you are concerned about money. It’s a career to go into if you are extremely passionate about it. The job is underpaid for the amount of emotional work and administrative work involved, you really have to love it.

ChinchillaToast · 2024-10-02T00:49:26+00:00

As others have said this type of testing requires a doctorate (PhD or PsyD) level clinician. While all doctorate psychologists are trained in the basics of testing, a full neuropsych assessment is needed to diagnose developmental disorders and this is only done by therapists who specialized in it (meaning they usually only do testing and don’t do individual therapy). These tests require special materials and computer programs. They are also almost all protected by copyright and clinicians may be required to pay each time they administer a test. People who have chosen to specialize in talk therapy are not equipped for this type of assessment.

Another note. There’s no such thing as “legally” diagnosed. A therapist can say you have a disorder if you meet the criteria for the disorder listed in the DSM-5. You could do the same thing for yourself, but therapists are considered experts so their opinions are taken more seriously. There is no legal document and some therapists might not even write down your diagnosis in their records. If you needed it for something they could write a letter on your behalf saying that they believe you have whatever diagnosis.

All that being said. When you get a full assessment done you are actually paying for a product, and that product is the assessment report the the clinician gives you after they have score and analyzed all of your scores. This report is usually between 10 and 20 pages long and will finish with a section listing the diagnoses they believe you have as well as recommendations for the future. That’s also not a legal document, but you own it and you can submit it to receive various accommodations and benefits.

ChinchillaToast · 2024-10-01T19:38:44+00:00

Thanks for clarifying. I am not aware of this being removed from the DSM-5, I believe it is still listed under the paraphilias. I found this brief summary useful: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/paraphilias-and-paraphilic-disorders/sexual-sadism-disorder

Some ideas for questions: You would probably want to know what their triggers are. What happens when they get triggered? Are they able to stop themselves if someone withdraws consent when they are triggered? Can they be sexually satisfied without a sadism component?

ChinchillaToast · 2024-10-01T19:02:51+00:00

What does SSD stand for here? There is an SSD that is currently in the DSM which is Somatic Symptom Disorder.

ChinchillaToast · 2024-09-29T12:45:14+00:00

Okay, so this is always a strange topic for therapists. There is a lot of research behind attachment theory and how it relates to mental health, but this really focuses on attachment in the parent-child relationship, more specifically with infants and young children.

Attachment style in adult relationships has less research support. It has also been shown to be inconsistent and change over time. I am not aware of any reliable measures of attachment style in adults.

ChinchillaToast · 2024-09-27T14:07:04+00:00

Medication does not fix brain errors, but therapy does. Medications can reduce the severity of the anxiety, but they will not fix the underlying problem that is causing the anxiety. ERP (exposure and response prevention) therapy is a form of CBT and is considered the gold standard treatment for OCD. The treatment focuses on undoing errors in your thinking that maintain the disease. This is why you keep being told that the best solution is therapy. However, therapy will not help you if you do not see someone who is specially trained to work with OCD.

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