Good psychologist in Joburg area

[Pooky]

I never said they are easy, I admitted that I have no idea how hard the honours and masters degrees are. But had I do know for a fact is that the undergrad degree is easy to get into and they tend to attract the "party animal" students looking to just breeze through university. These are the same people that one day may go on to post grad psychology.

It's also not as rigorous as the "hard" sciences.

That's where the perception comes from. All these factors affect the perception of the field, accurately or not.

If they do honours and masters in psychology then they have clearly transitioned from someone looking to 'breeze their way through university' into someone that has an interest in the field.

I highly doubt some person who just wants an easy degree is going to go on to become a clinical psychologist without changing their perceptions/outlook, or just for the sake of it.

I can apply what you are saying about the people to many other fields. The truth is you are going to get people who are good and bad at their jobs in any field, be it psychology, engineering etc.

 

[Knyro]

If they do honours and masters in psychology then they have clearly transitioned from someone looking to 'breeze their way through university' into someone that has an interest in the field.

Or they couldn't find a job and decided to study further until they can find something. Happens all the time to many students, not just those in psychology.

I highly doubt some person who just wants an easy degree is going to go on to become a clinical psychologist without changing their perceptions/outlook, or just for the sake of it.

See above.

I can apply what you are saying about the people to many other fields.

That you can, still doesn't change the face that the field has a perception problem while many others don't. People looking to "breeze" through other undergrad degrees usually get weeded out quite quickly, long before they are even close to finishing.

The truth is you are going to get people who are good and bad at their jobs in any field, be it psychology, engineering etc.

Yes I'm not disagreeing with you. I was just saying I see why abzo (and many others) think the way they do.

 

[Pooky]

I think it's a problem with 'Humanities' in general. People love to discredit these types of degrees because they are not 'scientific' enough, and it seems there is a perception that 'science' (eg the science of our century) is the alpha and omega of life; I just don't agree with that.

The fact that Philosophy itself is the father of most if not all of our beloved science should be testament to that.

Not saying that Humanities academics are entirely blameless though... There is a lot of academic waffle which can be a tad annoying.

 

[AfricanTech]

Or they couldn't find a job and decided to study further until they can find something. Happens all the time to many students, not just those in psychology.

That you can, still doesn't change the face that the field has a perception problem while many others don't. People looking to "breeze" through other undergrad degrees usually get weeded out quite quickly, long before they are even close to finishing.


Yes I'm not disagreeing with you. I was just saying I see why abzo (and many others) think the way they do.

[-]Trust me [/-] (LOL - dunno why you should, it's just an expression)

Let me rephrase

Take it on more than face value - it is exceedingly difficult to get in for Clinical Psychology Masters Degree.

Admission to an MA(Psych) is not only dependent on good grades - you go through a rigorous screening process and, at the end of the two years, the completion of written piece of work or research is still no guarantee that you're able to call yourself a Clinical Psychologist.

 

[ant_man]

I don't like attention, pity or intentionally being pathetic, but I feel i can tell the general board due how i've been acting

So i (edit: possibly, i didn't want to confirm it)have schizophrenia, the nice gentleman that wrote me a prescription asked me when i could make an appointment to meet with him again, and i told him i'd contact him when i know i'm available. i really have no intention of going back.

he also asked if my family knew i was coming to him or how much they knew about my life. i can never tell them about this or the things that have happened in my past. i feel like everything i've ever done or tried are unforgivable and unchangeable, and like the person i am is now set in stone, and the best i can do is to just not be any worse.

this won't affect me being a parent or my work, but it will affect who i am and what i do with my life now. i'm torn between not wanting to put another human being through being around me and my horrible attitude towards life, and hating everyone i meet and not wanting to give any anyone an opportunity to hurt or confuse my son, so everything i do in life will most likely be private and kept secret forever.

so this is the loneliest i've ever felt in my life. i am sorry with how quickly i lose my temper, i'm sorry for my swings in my attitude, i'm sorry if i've ever judged any of you or made you feel uncomfortable, i'm sorry for my silly jokes. it was all me, but it was me simply being misguided

Hey STS, you know a bit about what my life is about.

To say that I am upset and ashamed of what I have done is putting it extremely lightly.

I have done things that I am ashamed of I have said things that I shouldn't have but there came a stage in my life where I realised that I had to stop and confront my past.

As you it doesn't affect my ability to be a good husband to my SO, a great father to my 2 kids and run a good business but I was a horrid person to be around, I was bitter, angry, and just a sh#t for most of my years but not any more, I can't let it eat me up, it had to stop.

It's a difficult battle but each day I wake up I try and act on this, "may the best of yesterday be the worst of today"

 

[STS]

I never said thank you ant-man, it means a lot.

I never understood suicide in my life before, but I do understand why people consider it. It's still stupid but nobody really explains to you just how intense the feeling of being trapped overrides everything else.

I want to do extremes sometime, not kill myself but things like get myself banned from here, shave my hair off, do something violent for the sake of it, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's just me being sick. This is the only real place I have to talk about it, and I also don't want to even do that, but I force it sometimes

 

[HavocXphere]

Spend the extra money (yes I know you're in debt from the other thread ) and see a psychiatrist.

Rubbish. Psychologists and psychiatrists both are both valid professionals. Its like saying GPs are bullsht go straight to the cardiologist.

Personally I'm wary of the meds that psychiatrists are prone to prescribing (Go read some of the stories about people tripping on Ambien). I'll always give the psychologist the first crack at the problem. If that fails...then roll in the big pharma guns.

Can anyone recommend one?

No recommendation. From personal experience I can tell you that its important to find someone "thinks the same/speaks your language". e.g. My thinking style is ice cold analysis. The shrink I went was excellent, but tended towards the embrace God side. Naturally this reduced the effectiveness somewhat.

On a bit more personal / fuzzy note:

One of the things I did learn though is the value of formulating your thoughts & fears in a concrete manner. i.e. What people commonly refer to as "talking about it". I find that its not about the people hearing it part, but rather about the part where you are forced to gather your suppressed & jumbled thoughts into a coherent piece. i.e. To commit to specific words rather than a vague feeling. Now I've not tried this so far, but my instinct tells me that writing it down on a piece of paper & burning it would have the same effect. Burning the paper being roughly equal to a "trusted person who won't betray you". I suspect this will result in the same level of "enlightenment" (since your forced to put it into words), whilst reducing cost and risk. Or maybe I'm just talking k.ak...I'll let the reader decide.

 

[Humberto]

The shrink I went was excellent, but tended towards the embrace God side. Naturally this reduced the effectiveness somewhat.

Why is it "natural" that the therapy was less effective as a result of your psychologist recommending religion?

Carl Jung believed that humans have spiritual and religious needs as much as they have other needs and that embracing one's religious or spiritual self is an important step towards self-fulfillment. This became the basis for the twelve step programme of alcoholics anonymous.

 

[HavocXphere]

>Why is it "natural" that the therapy was less effective as a result of your psychologist recommending religion?

Not sure if trolling, but I'll give it a serious answer for good measure....

The "naturally" part is not a comment on the effectiveness of secular vs religious orientated psych treatment. It was a comment on my personal situation. *I* am not religious so *naturally* a psychologist hitting me with the religious angle didn't go down well.

As for "less effective". Quite the opposite actually. I believe that deeply religious people benefit from psychological benefits that are denied to secular people such as myself. And I have about as much chance of "re-capturing" that as I have a chance of convincing myself that Santa is real.

 

[rubytox]

Spend the extra money (yes I know you're in debt from the other thread ) and see a psychiatrist. They're the real health professionals. Any quack can become a psychologist.

I'm sure every psychologist out there would refute this statement! To be selected for Psychology Masters program a person needs a good academic record and also to survive a series of rigorous interviews.