a handout I got from the book Health Mind, Healthy Body Handbook.
My affirmation of late: before we can save others, we ourselves must be safe.
Tough choices out there, but one must do what is right, not easy or convenient.
We all need affirmations, especially of late!
31 Thursday Jan 2013
Posted in Uncategorized
I just resigned from the APA, just now. I should have done it awhile back, but maybe it says more doing it right now. I just got my first EOB back and I literally can’t afford the dues anymore anyway. I agree, sunshine is good!
I guess I should say congratulations. If you don’t mind my asking. are dues more than $1000/year these days?
It doesn’t feel like something to celebrate. The dues are less than that, I don’t have the exact number in front of me, but it’s around $700 I think. I’m sure there are people there (at APA) who do care about this situation, but they don’t seem to have much influence.
Thank you for this and your other posts. You have nailed it right on the head for me. I do not feel safe! It’s helpful to have that validated and to know I’m not the only one who is feeling this way right now, with all the changes we are facing. I became a psychiatrist because I connected with the patients I saw, and felt I had something to offer. I have not lost my ability to connect but I have felt confused in recent times about whether I have value in this profession anymore. I have been trying to fit my style of practice and (good) skills into a system that has no concept of the value of the therapeutic relationship/environment and what it takes to create and maintain that. I have to be careful not to buy into the current zeitgeist that pushes for quick, and cheap solutions to problems that can’t be solved quickly or without financial investment. Thanks for letting me share.
Thank you for sharing, I appreciate colleagues who are sticking to their beliefs and training backgrounds that promote hope and faith. I come from the eclectic, multifactorial point of view. Illness rarely comes from just one source, so treatment won’t be successful from one either.
Is it just me, or have so many colleagues lost perspective? And, isn’t the APA irrelevant today? Why does anyone with a conscience still maintain membership?
To anyone who is a member and has a legitimate point of view to air if you disagree with me, please feel free to speak out. I will say this, having heard the “political action power” point of view, show me by actual changes in political agendas how the APA really made a difference. And if this is true, what is the APA waiting for regarding New York’s recent legislation of the gun control act involving reporting by providers of both homicidal and suicidal patients with access to firearms? ‘Cause Maryland is next in line to offend and control!
Have a great day Laura (wouldn’t sound right to call you Dr Laura), at least the sun is out and the flood waters are waning here!