39. The New Blog

I've had another blog site for years...I MEAN YEARS! unfortunately it crapped out on me and suddenly the site was gone!!!! WTF!?!?! So the only ones I could put onto this guy were the ones that were kinda like...uh random unedited things that I simply would type out before posting. Anyways...welcome to the new site of "psycho-babbo" it is a stolen identity and name from someone else but it was also my own...so is it really stealing? well...that was confusing...anyways...stay tuned ladies and gentlemen...stay tuned

38. I'm the rebound?

So as I've been making my rounds with the plethora of both 4 year old Rx addicts and 88 year old pyromaniacs...i've found myself in the presence of those that have had a loooooong history of mental disorder. Some longer than I've been alive have been in the mental health system for so long that I KNOW they could create licensing exams for us mental health peeps...I know in fact that many of them can read right through some of their own therapists...so interesting. Anyways, as i'm making my rounds (like i said earlier) i've found a teenager that tells me, "hey andrew...you're my third therapist in like..3 years." and of course my response is somewhere around, "so how does that make you feel."....his response was, "well...so far...you're not that good...my last therapist in the two sessions we initially had knew who I was, my life and everything...he was so great...he made me feel so good, he challenged me, he pushed me, he motivated me..."blah blah blah blah..So feelign a bit insulted I ask him, "oh...then why did it end?" and his response, "well it was time I moved on from him....it was just time...now here you are andrew and i think my last therapist was way better."Damn jerk off little prick...ugh! haha..i'm the rebound...ofcourse my thoughts are just running around right now..."was he better at diagnosing you? could he make you feel like I can? can't you just try and like me? why is it so quiet in session maybe i should break the ice..." hahhahahah i'm such the rebound...it's like going on an awkward first date as they tell you all about their last b/f and how you'll never be as good as they were...hahah....I think I should start a support group for therapists that are just the rebound therapists...

37. Real psychotherapy

Soo...I have a new job. "what!?!?!....you andrew...new job?" Yes everyone that is right...new job. Well..to be specific...same position (psychotherapist) but new clinic. (Although this blog seems very uh...stressful and tiring, readers please note that I wrote this whole thing smiling because as I look back on my new position- it's all going to be okay.)Sooo...i've been there for about...hmm...in total. 5 days including today. Yeah...in 5 days i've had the clinic drop 26 patients on me...train me on 10 hours of department of mental health paperwork bullcrap...which quite honestly has to be the crappiest crap that has ever crapped...been yelled at by a supervisor...been told that my patient notes suck...and worse of all...had 3 patients commit suicide on me already!!! hahha...ya know. Sometimes those decisions you make...well...aren't always the best decisions. I'm working with them all..children (my youngest is 4)...WHY THE HELL DOES A 4 YEAR OLD NEED THERAPY AND MEDS???!!? my oldest patient is 68 and he has had schizophrenia for about..uh...40 something years...man....that's a long time. He takes more medications than I have fingers...geez...The irony? Those three patients that committed suicide..yeah...apparently they told me that I was the best therapist, funniest and most personable one they've ever met or had, right after the 1st session with me. WTF!?!?! So i took that as good and bad. Good because at least I know i build rapport well...bad because well..maybe i cheered them up so much that they were able to have the energy and courage enough to off themselves. WTF!!?!? sigh...It's been an interesting time for change...an interesting period in life right now...lots of changes...lots of ...hmm...different experiences and such. These curve balls that life throws are so very very interesting. I have an office and even a window but guess what? I don't use it...i'm supposed to be out in their homes, or school, or psychiatric hospitals doing...well..I don't know...whatever I want...to be specific my supervisor tells me, "You can do any orientation and theoretical intervention you want Andrew..play therapy, narrative, sandplay, cognitive behavioral...anything...just make sure that when you write patient notes you don't put any of that stuff down"hahah...geez...good times.

36. Old guys rule

So last night I head out to Riverside to hang out with a really old friend of mine. We do the usual stuff...eat, drink and basically chill out. It was really nice to actually go out and...well...take a break from all the crap that's happened lately...no need to get into that. In response to my last blog about old men in gyms his response was, "well dude, old guys also walk around because well...they don't give a damn either..." I mean i hear him..i'm sure no one is going to up to them and say, "hey pops put the elephant trunk away ya know.."So anyways...we get up this morning and go to the driving range...now mind you, i've never ever done that before and thought...psh...no problem. Golf is hard.Dammit..I could barely get the ball spitting distance let alone 200 yards like my bud..well anyways...in the end this old man walks up..sets his feet...tests his stick and slams the hell outta it...holy crap I mean one after the other it was simply perfect....SIMPLY PERFECT! So he looks over at my me and my bud and says, "let me give you some tips."HA! this guy starts telling us how we're too stiff...to stuck...trying to over power it...trying to muscle it too much and all kinds of stuff...we're not relaxing enough, we're comparing oursevles to others, we're trying to outswing the neighbor...in the end he destroyed our hopes of golf...the sense I got?Learn to work your stick and you'll hit it far...hehe...damn old men using their sticks well.Old Guys Rule

35. Letting it all hang out

Allow me to give some credit to a co-worker of mine that helped me formulate this thought.So...I've spent soooo much time in the gym lately...running, weights, taking up basketball, swimming...well really anything. I've found it to be the only way to deal with stuff going on. Anyways, as i've spent more time there I came to an interesting observation. As I shower and change back into regular clothes I find myself walking from the shower to my locker in the gym wearing a towel. WHY? I mean i've been stripping and showering with hundreds of guys in the Marine Corps so why bother? Well I do it because although I may be used to it...others may not be. I have to respect their own privacy and their feelings as well (which in itself is a debatable thing...) Anyways...WHY THE HELL DO OLD, SAGGY MEN WALK AROUND NUDE?!?!!??!and it's not that they're doing it...but they're doing it because they walk around with the air of..."Check me out gents...i still got it"....i can only cringe sometimes...man...I mean they're in great shape and hey more power to them since I can only pray i can look good walking around naked at age 98...haha...Man do they got balls.....hahahahahah literally.

34. How to phrase compliments

So in my course of giving compliments to others I have been asking how to do it....I ask because I keep getting the wrong reaction and overall wrong response from other when I do it. They either look at me weird, question why i'm asking or think that i'm trying to sell them something. Am I to believe that we live in a society where we can't give compliments to one another? Where people are to an extant distrusting to others? But more...I find that giving compliments to guys more accepting...as in, they will take the compliment much better than women that tend to think that you're just trying to get in their pants...I think. I 've asked women and men and this is the information I have gathered (see examples below). Note that these responses were told to me from 4 different women and 2 different guys.this is what has come up..what do you guys think out there?Imagine a girl wearing a "fancy purple cardigan sweater with an intricate design on one side of it" I mean I realize you have to see it...but it was very nicehow would a girl like to be complimented?If a girl were to say to this girl, "hey I like your sweater"I was told that this means the girl is interested in buying it and that's how it is takenIf a guy were to say to this girl, "hey I like your sweater"I was told that the girl that gets this compliment may freak out and wonder, "what the hell do you know about it?" or would think "uh...so that means you want to buy it?" (sarcastic tone)If a girl were to say to this girl, "hey I think your sweater is cute"I was told that this means the girl is interested in buying it and that's how it is takenIf a guy were to say to this girl, "hey I think your sweater is cute"I was told that this means he's gayIf a girl were to say to this girl, "hey I like that sweater" (that instead of your)I was told it de-personalizes the sweater so the girl wearing the sweater may think the compliment giver is just trying to be nice and being a bitchIf a guy were to say to this girl, "hey I like that sweater"I was told that she would think...what do you want?SOOOOOOOO in light of all please...please please please tell me how to give a compliment

33. Complimenting others...a personal journey

So in light of my wanting to understand my client more I decided to compliment others like he does...this is my adventure (summarized of course.)Sport ChaletI walk in looking for some leg warmers (b/c it's getting colder and they feel nice when i'm on my bike)I talk to one of the associates there: He is a black, thirty something southern descent guy (with a great deep, southern voice...very cool). I tell him, "hey man, you have a great voice...have you ever done radio or tv with it?"his response, "yeah I have, ya know...that's what I came to LA for...and you know that ladies like it too."my response, "yeah I hear that man."his response, "yeah...like I said, the 'ladies' like it"my response, "yeah...I hear ya man."his response, "no no no...the 'ladies' like it." (wink, wink) "only the ladies...i'm not ya know..gay"my response, "dude..uh...what...are you...doh! OH MAN!! i'm not gay either!!!"his response, "ohhh I just thought that you were...i mean you're here buying tights...and talking about my voice...i just thought you were...""DOH!"Donut StoreOlder woman in her forties that worked in a donut store by where I work."hello sir, can I help you." she says."sure...let me have a cup of coffee and a glaze donut." I say.I then notice this necklace that she was wearing that had a metal stick charm or somethng of the sort and thought, 'this is my chance to compliment.'I then say, "can i just say, that your necklace is very nice and interesting"her response, "thanks...the stick is from my wrist watch when i was in a terrible accident. the metal stick was on my watch when I was driving before a car accident. The stick then jammed into my wrist but was lodge in such a way that it kept me from bleeding to death out my wrist and dying."my response, "WHOA! (TMI) well..uh...yeah...uh...um...so now you uh...where it around your neck where it can't go into your wrist again?"(not very sensitive but...it's the first thing that came out...sigh)her response was somewhere along "screw you and fuck you three ways from last week asshole..." but in a different asian language...yeah...i'm glad I couldn't understand that....

32. Complimenting others

So I have a patient/client that first came into the office for feelings of depression and general anxiety. As a way to deal with his own emotions, he likes to compliment others as a way to spread good cheer and joy. So he comes into the office and says that "today I went to the library and I saw this girl there and as she was standing there I complimented her and simply walked off.""x amount of time afterward she comes to me taps me on the shoulder and starts to curse me out.""She says, 'I fucken hate how i'm always being hit on! why can't you fucken leave me alone and not hit on me for once...'"my client then says, "I'm sorry, I wasn't hitting on you though, I was just giving you a compliment...i'm happily married with kids but was just complimenting to be nice."she then storms off...My client is then, easily understood, depressed and unable to leave the house other then come to talk.I talk to my supervisor about his complimenting and my supervisor then tells me to advise him to stop since it brought him to an all time low...So let me just say that I find myself fighting about my supervisor and this was no exception...I believe that it's okay for him to compliment others and that I can talk to my patient about learning to accept that some people have bad days, like i think she was having and that he may expect to have bad reactions at times. My supervisor instead insists that I just tell him to stop completely and make him not compliment again...always the clashing I have with him....Ideas?

31. God is that you

So as I'm walking out of supervision today I walk out the door going to my car when suddenly I hear my name called, "Andrew!"....I stop and look around...nothing...As I start to walk again...the voice rings outs...."Andrew!!" ...I look around and nothing...So I turn around and say, "uh...God?!?!" as I look trying to figure out what's going on...Then this girl jumps out of her car and comes running to me..."Oh my god, Andrew!!"Surprised I see that it is a girl that I dated like...uh...6 or 7 years ago.."oh how's it going....uh...C.A.R.M.E.N.???" - I say"Yeah that's right Andrew..." -She says as I wipe my head barely remembering herShe then starts balling!!!...BALLING!!!!!!! and crying/screaming with tears pouring out...She then starts apologizing to me."i'm sorry for: Not returing your call that one time you called and I could have answerNot smiling that one time you bought me a cakeNot buying you a gift for your birthdayNot wiping your butt when you shat that one time"..... You know...all kinds of random, random crap to which I truly, truly do not remember any of this stuff...eventually after about...I don't know...30 minutes of just balling in incomprehensible language and words...she then says i'm also sorry the most for something that I never told you about...of course my heart is pounding..."I'm sorry Andrew that I slept with your friend!...Rob" -she says"oh...is that all? that's alright no biggie...it's all good." -I say in responseSo i finally ask..."I dont' get it...what are you apologizing for...why are you saying sorry?" "Oh..it's because i'm part of this program where I have to apologize for all the wrong doings i've ever done to anyone.....it's a weird program i'm in""oh you mean AA???!?!"-sigh....just sigh...upon further inspection, i've found that she never slept with rob, never had any contact like that...plus...hmm...I should learn to runaway from godly voices for now on.

30. Psychoanalysis phun

So as i am doing my reading for school I realize how freakin' boring it is. I sat down today to catch up on about 300 pages of reading that I need to have finished by friday because i've been lazy and not willing to do it. So I finally "step up" I go to the coffee shop this morning, pick myself up a "black eye" (black coffee and 2 shots of espresso) and take my happy butt to the park to sit down and start reading all that I have to read. There I am reading all this stuff "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" by Carl Jung.I come upon this statement:"...healthy minded people, they always remind me of those optimistic tadpoles who bask in a puddle in the sun, in the shallowest of waters, crowding together and amiably wriggling their tails, totally unaware that the next morning the puddle will have dried up and left them stranded."So I start laughing while thinking about it and as I do so, some homeless guy (an assumption because he had a small tent and shopping cart alongside him) jumps up and yells at me, "Hey Nigga you laughin' at me!?!?!?""no sir!, I'm simply laughing at this book""Jung...that psychotic guy?"Just was thinking..."uh....yeah..don't think he was psychotic but uh...he was a psychiatrist"Goes to show...I guess I was the tadpole being watched....also shows that damn...never underestimate people...not that I did...but damn..maybe I'm really the psychotic one...