This blog responds to two BAD things and one GOOD thing about psychotherapy.
First, the BAD things.
It’s expensive: I slide my rate down to whatever you tell me you can afford. And I mean it. (If you don’t believe me, it’s on my website: www.aquietroom.com.) I’ve seen people for $200 per hour and I’ve seen people for $1 per hour, because that’s what they each could honestly afford. They all get the same therapy. But I can only see so many people at once, even with the groups. This blog addresses that problem. Here’s a space where I can share the ideas of psychotherapy with everyone. Until I can get a book in print (which might be soon), this is what I’ve got – a public space, free to all comers, to spread the ideas I believe in – and to try to help.
It’s pretentious: I keep a Sigmund Freud bobble-head doll in my office to remind me of two things – that Freud was a genius – and I shouldn’t take myself (or Freud) too seriously. The ideas that change lives make you say “ah-ha!” and see something differently. Freud concocted some crazy notions (remember “penis envy”?) and some brilliant ones (the unconscious.) The “Ah-ha” ones stuck around. If you’re not getting an “ah-ha” from this blog, let me know. As my old therapist, Lena Furgeri, used to say – “STAY ON MY ASS!” Feedback is welcome. I’m the People’s Therapist. You’re the People.
And the GOOD THING:
Psychotherapy changes lives: Louis Ormont, one of the inventors of group therapy, told me his dream was to make psychotherapy available for everyone – to put it in schools and all over the globe. He started therapy groups in high schools in New York City. “Imagine,” he said, “if children took an hour a week for emotional education, to learn to put their thoughts and feelings into words. It could change the world!”
I agree with Lou. There are a lot of ah-ha ideas here. I want to get them out to you – and hear your thoughts.
Here’s an old radio interview, I believe from early 2006. I was featured on John Riley’s OutFM radio show on WBAI, FM 99.5. My segment begins at 39:30 about two thirds of the way through the show. I discuss the TalkSafe/PLUSES program that I was administrating at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan.
TalkSafe/PLUSES ran into funding issues a year later, after I’d left. I believe it remains in existence, though in a different form, and still offers counseling to people with HIV through the HIV Medicaid clinic at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
The People's Therapist 