Brodman_area11

Exactly. Psychologist here: ditto on everything and I'd rush to add that the field had a BIG problem back when undertrained therapists were inadvertently creating DID symptomatic expression by operantly conditioning/shaping those behaviors in clinical settings.

OP's presentation of "All the professionals out there are wrong and broken, and I'm doing it right in several areas of specialty, buy my book" gives me some "What About Bob" vibes.

Interesting that this should pop up! Just yesterday I was at the zoo, and one of the guides was talking about shipping a huge 3 meter shark from Malaysia to the US. My question is how do you handle animals? Do they have a separate hold that's temp regulated? Do people make sure they have water and are handled gently? What does their setup look like and how does it work?

Nothing quite so deep. She implied that ALL other therapists get it wrong or don’t take things seriously, when there many deeply committed and deeply knowledgeable people who have spent thei lives studying that One Thing. Then proceeds to advertise her new book on eating disorders, including the current systems failure. Eating disorders and dissociation are very different areas of specialization, and to claim that the current people in the field are all wrong but she can come in and explain it is a bit of hubris and self promotion. The way I’d describe the psychiatrist in what about Bob would be full of hubris and self promotion. That’s why It gave me those vibes.

I suspect she’s coming from a good place, if not with a bit of a savior complex. I’m all for doing good work and talking about it, but her implications that no one has been kind enough, or smart enough, or knowledgeable enough, shows she really doesn’t understand the science, history, and theoretical underpinning to claim any real professional standing of expertise. But I digress: my purpose wasn’t to trash talk op, but remind everyone that the most common way to get DID symptoms is to have a therapist who’s enthusiastic about the diagnosis.

Except for psychologists. They can do a number of things a psychiatrist can’t, and are far better trained in assessment and clinical interventions. We are past the age of the white coat by decades.