Mr. Joyce Takes on the World

Disorder Vs. Reaction             As my time in abnormal psych class ends, I’m reflecting on the most important thing I’ve learned from that class.             The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) has a very long, contradictory history. The title itself sounds like a guide book for fixing your car. Instead, it’s a list of mental maladies, and their symptoms. It doesn’t list how to treat the disorders, or why the disorders occur. All it does is give a description of each form of mental illness. Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and Anxiety Disorder are all there. There’s even been a few disorders that were removed, and some that have recently been added. It’s a fluid document that is capable of being changed. These changes occur due to politics, culture, and the persistence of pharmaceutical companies. That doesn’t mean that psychology is quackery, or that...

When Therapy Ends Psyche contemplating her namesake.  Tomorrow will be the last day that I see my therapist. This June would have marked the four year duration of our work together. During that time I have grown tremendously. I have learned more than I expected from our work together. I can't begin to list all the things that Julie and I have explored, and how her guidance has influenced me. Though four years seems like a mere tick on the hands of a clock, it is a long time to be in treatment these days. It seems to have gone by like so many sunrises and sunsets, gradual, and yet too soon. I want to clarify that our work is ending for a few good reasons. These are reasons that I accept, though it's not easy for me to say good-bye. I should rewind the clock back to August of 2015. Julie announced that she was pregnant, and was expecting to give birth in May. She initially informed that she'd take off only three months for maternity leave, and the...

Psyche opens the golden box...and finds chocolatey truffles!  I often mark the passage of time with anniversaries of some sort. It can be the date a favorite book was published, or a favorite film was released. Tomorrow marks a different kind of anniversary. I had a session today with my therapist, as I do every week. Every session I have with her is important to me, and is time well spent.  Tomorrow marks three years that I've been working with my therapist. Over that time I've learned a lot, and grown a lot. And so has my therapist. We've learned a tremendous amount from each other, and will continue to do so for a very long time. The lessons I learn from my work with her enable me to live a fuller, healthier life. They also help me to have relationships with others, and myself.  And so to mark the occasion, I did what I always do... I wore the same clothes that I wore to our first session. The same blue-striped polo shirt, and tan trousers. I no longer have...