Doctor You

Forget about it. I'm not typing the long-winded but completely unhelpful build up for this kokology post. You can't make me. I won't.

Not gonna do it.

So here, in part, from page 144:

...Everyone benefits at some point from a bit of wise advice, a kind word, or even a harsh critique. Think of all the times you yourself have been carried through a crisis supported by the words of others. If the time came for you to be the one giving support, what kind of a job do you think you would do?

1. You are a psychotherapist with a private counseling service. In what kind of room do you hold your therapy sessions? Describe the room in detail.

2. Your first patient for the day has arrived. What problems does he or she want to talk over with you, and what kind of counsel do you give?

3. You sit across from the patient and give your professional advice. What kind of reaction do you get from the patient?

4. Office hours are done for the day, and you're at your desk doing paperwork when someone bursts in. Who is this person coming to you after hours? (Use the name of a person you know when answering).

1. I hold the session in a room that has the same overall asthetic feel as my home office: dark wood, orangey-gold walls (Mr. Poppins will correct my description of the color if I've got it wrong), and lots of books and curiosities without actual clutter. I sit in a big, comfortable leather chair, with a wide sidetable for writing and taking notes but my actual desk is behind me. The patient is across from me in another leather chair. There is a fireplace with a fire. Perhaps this is the set from Sherlock Holmes? Maybe. But I don't have a pipe.

2. My first patient of the day is a regular without any real problems. She's just chatting about the minutae of her week and schedule, sipping coffee, and entertaining me with stories of funny conversations overheard while on the subway.

3. I'll tell the patient she should consider hiring a housekeeper and a meal delivery service. She thinks that is a fabulous idea.

4. Mr. Poppins bursts in, followed closely by the Dol. They seem happy but we've got someplace to be in a hurry. Maybe dinner.

And now we get to find out how nuts we all are: here.

Comments

[Liz]

1) A very cool, modern room with minimal furniture and NO visible clutter. Lots of brown and blue....

2) I have no first instinct on this one. No problems come to mind. After thinking for a while, I decide the patient is having trouble parenting her child with her ex husband. I don't give her advice, she talks until the time is up.

3)Wait, I think I just answered this in question 2...

4)Cole (my son) bursts in. His Papa is waiting in the car to pick me up from work. He sent Cole in to get me. Cole hasn't learned to knock yet, so he bursts in.

P.S. - I have a feeling I'm not going to like this one, Poppins.

[Diosa]

Gee, Polly, did you have to pick such a long one?

First, I'd never be a psychotherapist. I hate to talk about feelings except with my closest confidantes.

1. The room would be calming, done in a light, khaki green. Desk would be dark mahogany. Chair and sofa, chocolate brown leather. Soft lamp light. I despise flourescents.

2. Patient is crying and overwhelmed by her busy and stressfull life. I tell her to do yoga and practice deep breathing.

3. Don't put up with any body's crap and accept that there's only so much you can accomplish in a day. It takes only 10% of the time to accomplish 90% of the job, and 90% of the time to finish that last 10%. Stop being a perfectionist. The patient agrees this is good advice and promises to work on it.

4. Blackstone and my boys come to deliver me from my mountain of work and insist that I come play and read stories.

[Bookgirl]

Oy, this is long. My room would be cheerful, like all the rooms I get to decorate are. Colorful framed prints on the walls, probably florals. The chair for the client would be super comfortamble, with a footrest. Maybe a recliner. And wide enough that people could kind of curl up in it. There would definitely be a box next to it with a box of tissues. Maybe a vase with fresh flowers too.

My first patient is a young woman, twenty-something. She's single, trying to establish a career, living in a big city. I mostly just listen.

She listens carefully, and what I say helps her see her situation and look at things in a different way.

Since this is my fantasy, Polly busts in. In my fantasies, she lives close enough to do that.

Now let's see what it means.

[Polly Poppins]

Dear Liz, Diosa, and Bookgirl,
Thank you for braving today's kokology. Really, it wasn't that hard, was it?

[The Model]

1. Very modern, clean, bright, with lots of knick-knacks and flowers and books around.
2. & 3. These questions were tainted for me because I just watched Tell Me You Love Me (that new HBO show) and all I could think of when I imagined therapy patients were the people from that show with all their marital problems.
4. Model Jr. as an adult.

[Liz]

No, Polly, it wasn't hard at all. I love it that you burst into Bookgirls office - stop causing her so much stress and worry, Polly! Hehe.

Also, interesting that everyone else's answer to #4 was their kid/s. So true, isn't it.

[karla]

1. The room is a cute greenish color, with lots of books on counseling, no chair to lay in...a desk off to the side, two comfortable chair to sit in while discussing, and cute rug across most of the wood floor. Lots of windows...
2. She wants to talk about her marriage, but then she tells me that I am the fifth counselor she has seen, and she has been in counseling for 20 years.
3. I tell her I wonder why she is here. I am not getting paid to be a listening friend. I am here to help her to see her situation differently, and I am here to encourage change in her life. I wonder if she really wants to change if she has been going to counseling about this same problem for 20 year. (I might try to say those things more professionally and less harsh than they sound here.)

4. It is Keith.

[karla]

oh,also....The person doesn't like what I have to say, because she doesn't want to change....so she leaves and never comes back.

[Diosa]

I'm pretty sure it's not actually my kids and husband that cause me the most stress in my life. You may not believe me, but it's not the way I see it.

[Ramblin' Jack]

Hmmm. The person who barged into my office was a total stranger. Never met the person in my life. Not sure what that means.

[The Model]

Jack, maybe it means you weren't following the directions, since it says to use the name of a person you know.

[Ramblin' Jack]

Model: Good point. I was never good at Mad Libs either. I could never remember what an adverb was.

However, this brings up a good point. Since Kokology is supposed to be a Rorchach test of sorts, editing your response to fit some specific criteria kind of ruins it. For example:

Q: What's your favorite color?

(P.S. It has to be red, yellow or blue)

If my gut reaction is "Green", I don't think changing it to "Red" after the fact is going to give us the window into my soul that we all desperately hope for (OK, maybe just Poppins hopes for that).

So I guess I'm kind of calling Shenanigans on Kokology, and I stand by my first answer. Make of it what you will.

[CHamel]

1. The room has a nice warm brown leather couch. Directly in front of said couch is a sturdy coffee table cluttered with magazines, tissues, an ashtray and lost hope. My desk also shows its age and is covered with books and other nonesense that seem to indicate I have done this before. On the wall is a Khan painting (it is the kiss one - I can't remember what it is called) and cracks that seem to begin and end without really reaching anything at all.

2. Barbara is having problems with the parts of her life that involve consciousness. She also has a slight case of neurosis when she is asleep. She laments about the many challenges that fill her day, about how her shoes are too tight, and about how no one appreciates her hard work and sacrifices.

I advise her to buy new shoes.

3. Barbara can't decide where to buy the shoes or what is a fair price for them or what the neighbors will think if she buys white shoes (it is after Labor Day you know) or if there will be too much traffic on the way to buyt them or if the shoes will make her feet look fat... I sleep during some of this but she does not notice.

4. My friend Dana bursts in the room, looks at me with a distant far off confusion, mutters something under his breath, and walks out. I find this to be comforting as it might be the 10,000th time this has occurred in my life. To quote Amy Ray, "you come regular like seasons shadowing my dreams".

Polly - I have often been referred to as Mr. Liz in converations similiar to these but today I reveal my true identity as CHamel. Somewhere someone is humming a "Rocky" themesong to celebrate my liberation.

PS - Liz and I are sending you a gift. I am anxious to hear what you think of it.

[Polly Poppins]

A present! I am so excited that I will not sleep. If this is an attempt to keep me up all night so that I blog more, it just may work. I hate suspense. But I love, love, love presents!!!

[Bookgirl]

Mr. Liz, You're so cute thinking you get to pick your own name. But you're wrong. This is a group of woman, remember. And you have been declared Mr. Liz by the pack. Once the pack has spoken, it's not easy to change minds.

[Bookgirl]

Unless refusing to call you by your chosen name will get me cut from the music distro. In which case I'll call you whatever you need me to.