[ENTP] ENTP Therapist?

[SillySapienne]

Tallulah, I have done some research on this.

A.) It would be to your advantage to get involved with a therapist who understands the problems often attributed to gifted females. We are a different breed with different needs.

B.) When people are depressed, they often lack the ability to synthesize information while they are still, (and much to their further detriment), able to analyze information.

C.) My thoughts: A good therapeutic approach allows us to see and understand new approaches and perspectives to employ in order to combat whatever it is that is ailing us.

D.) I have suffered through both major depression and dysthymia as well, and there are several books that have helped me a shit ton.

 

[digesthisickness]

No, and I really didn't mean to imply that. Just a tendency I've noticed through board interaction with a few ENTPs. Other types would have things they'd have to watch, too, but Syn was asking if an ENTP would make a good therapist, so I answered it that way.

NTs, in general, can get very obsessed with a problem/topic, and Entps are no different. what is different, is what subjects interest them. for some (maybe even many), 'people' are what they find fascinating, the mind is fascinating, and having to constantly research is also fascinating, then add all of that to getting to apply what they know (and continue to learn) is an unending supply of blessed interesting mystery.

and, doing what one loves to do with the default being that you've helped someone with something they couldn't do alone as the payoff can be beyond fulfilling.

 

[digesthisickness]

Umm...


EDIT. I wouldn't want an ENTP therapist, I don't know if they could put their ego aside sufficiently or if they would be empathic enough. Also, what happens when they get bored with you and/or the job?

when i said that i don't advertise it, i meant that i don't advertise it characteristically by going around giving unsolicited advice to people (to me, that's extremely egocentric and insulting) or by starting threads saying i'm open to giving it (same reasons).

what i did in my post was simply attempt to clarify, you.

 

[Tallulah]

While you are being provided with that outside perspective, aren't you thinking?

Yes, but you are also finally dealing with the emotional aspect of whatever might be causing your situation. For me, personally, therapy has been a place where I can realign what I'm thinking with what is actually probably closer to reality, as well as a place where I can figure out what some of my vague, bottled-up feelings really are. I'm not saying you don't use logic. I'm just saying a logic-based therapist that did not acknowledge the emotional end of things would not be very useful to me at all. Nor would one who merely offered up a scientific chart of how the brain works, or gave me a breathing exercise to do.

Tallulah, I have done some research on this.

A.) It would be to your advantage to get involved with a therapist who understands the problems often attributed to gifted females. We are a different breed with different needs.

B.) When people are depressed, they often lack the ability to synthesize information while they are still, (and much to their further detriment), able to analyze information.

C.) My thoughts: A good therapeutic approach allows us to see and understand new approaches and perspectives to employ in order to combat whatever it is that is ailing us.

D.) I have suffered through both major depression and dysthymia as well, and there are several books that have helped me a shit ton.

Good thoughts, CC! And yes, I definitely relate to B a lot. I can analyze the heck out of things till the cows come home. You can wake me up in the middle of the night and tell me to analyze something, and I'm on it. But sometimes the constant analysis is what gets me into trouble. We can't always analyze ourselves, because it's nearly impossible to be objective about ourselves, and people aren't systems. The things that are my strengths, academically, as an INTP, can sometimes work against me when I try to apply them to myself. And when you just have a lot of information coming at you, you can intellectually understand it, but you can't always take it and internalize/process it so that it can be of any benefit. I can logically know that what I'm thinking is screwed up, and it can still seem right. That's when I need an outside person that I trust to help me get back on track.

I'd love to know which books helped you, if you can remember the titles.

NTs, in general, can get very obsessed with a problem/topic, and Entps are no different. what is different, is what subjects interest them. for some (maybe even many), 'people' are what they find fascinating, the mind is fascinating, and having to constantly research, then getting to apply what they know (and continue to learn) is an unending supply of blessed interesting mystery.

and, doing what one loves to do with the default being that you've helped someone with something they couldn't do alone as the payoff can be beyond fulfilling.

Very true! I think being a therapist would be very rewarding for the reasons you described. I think where I'd get frustrated is knowing that I'd listened, and given them the tools to get better, etc., and realizing that some were choosing to wallow in their screwed-up-edness.

 

[Synarch]

I think where I'd get frustrated is knowing that I'd listened, and given them the tools to get better, etc., and realizing that some were choosing to wallow in their screwed-up-edness.

That's when you tell them, "I can't help you if you want to keep doing the same shit and expecting a different result."

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

I think an ENTP would be a great therapist, analytical but removed. Might not hand you the tissue while you cry, but likely to come up with an accurate assessment. Also, a lot of "Fs" who go into therapy, especially the SFs, have weak analytic skills.

 

[SillySapienne]

MIGHT NOT HAND YOU A TISSUE WHILE YOU CRY?!?!?!

EW, FUCKING, EW!!!

 

[Synarch]

MIGHT NOT HAND YOU A TISSUE WHILE YOU CRY?!?!?!

EW, FUCKING, EW!!!

I imagine there would be tissues on the table next to you in my imaginary office. But, I would watch impassively as you reached for one yourself.

 

[digesthisickness]

I think where I'd get frustrated is knowing that I'd listened, and given them the tools to get better, etc., and realizing that some were choosing to wallow in their screwed-up-edness.

heh. that happens IRL enough for me to know it would happen whether i was getting paid or not, and being a therapist, at least i'd get paid.

not only that, but the ones that i helped would make up for the ones that i finally decided didn't really want help. that said, it'd take a LOT for me to come to that conclusion, but hey, once i did, then at least i could tell myself that i helped them by allowing them to continue to wallow.

 

[JocktheMotie]

MIGHT NOT HAND YOU A TISSUE WHILE YOU CRY?!?!?!

EW, FUCKING, EW!!!

At least they'd make them available. That's not something I would think of.

 

[digesthisickness]

MIGHT NOT HAND YOU A TISSUE WHILE YOU CRY?!?!?!

EW, FUCKING, EW!!!

what are you 'ewing' about? the not getting a tissue or the crying?

 

[SillySapienne]

I imagine there would be tissues on the table next to you in my imaginary office. But, I would watch impassively as you reached for one yourself.

When I cry in the company of someone else, that is a big fucking deal, and it is indicative of my feeling both incredibly emotional and vulnerable, and for this emotional vulnerability to be met with impassivity, wow, just wow.

My father, (INTP), had a tendency to treat tears/crying with impassivity and there are no words in the English language that could begin to express the feelings that such impassivity evoked in me.

 

[Synarch]

When I cry in the company of someone else, that is a big fucking deal, and it is indicative of my feeling both incredibly emotional and vulnerable, and for this emotional vulnerability to be met with impassivity, wow, just wow.

My father, (INTP), had a tendency to treat tears/crying with impassivity and there are no words in the English language that could begin to express the feelings that such impassivity evoked in me.

Unfortunately, impassivity does not equal disregard. It represents boundaries of professionalism. Maybe the fact that you would see it in a negative light means something about your expectations when you open up.

 

[ajblaise]

I figure most therapists who have been around long enough will know when crying people might benefit from a tissue or at least some kind of appropriate response.

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

Very nice. I would like to hear what you do.

Professionally, I'm in litigation. I go to court now and then, but mostly do research and writing, which requires strategizing. It also requires meticulous attention to detail, which I sometimes am motivated to do, other times much less.

Outside of my profession, I've been practicing meditation for a while and studying Zen. That syncs up better with a helping profession like psychology, since you are cultivating compassion, empathy, and self-intimacy in meditation. This is just my opinion, of course. There are Zen masters who would probably say that profession is irrelevant if it's conducted mindfully. I personally think that the qualities you cultivate in your career should be qualities you are trying to cultivate as a human being. Otherwise you're fighting yourself and/or splitting off into 2 personalities, one for career, one for your personal life. Easier when they coincide.

 

[SillySapienne]

what are you 'ewing' about? the not getting a tissue or the crying?

I am ewing at the response to the

Unfortunately, impassivity does not equal disregard. It represents boundaries of professionalism. Maybe the fact that you would see it in a negative light means something about your expectations when you open up.

Hmm,

Listen, I cannot speak for anyone else here, but for me, personally, I do not open myself up easily to others, and further allow myself to open up to such an extent that I actually am able to feel comfortable enough to cry.

I have probably cried somewhere around 10 to 20 times in therapy out of something like 150 sessions.

When I cry, that means A LOT, and for my crying to be met with professional distance, is just not my cup of tea.

 

[Synarch]

Listen, I cannot speak for anyone else here, but for me, personally, I do not open myself up easily to others, and further allow myself to open up to such an extent that I actually am able to feel comfortable enough to cry.

I have probably cried somewhere around 10 to 20 times in therapy out of something like 150 sessions.

When I cry, that means A LOT, and for my crying to be met with professional distance, is just not my cup of tea.

What if I gave you a big ass hug instead?

 

[Synarch]

Professionally, I'm in litigation. I go to court now and then, but mostly do research and writing, which requires strategizing. It also requires meticulous attention to detail, which I sometimes am motivated to do, other times much less.

Outside of my profession, I've been practicing meditation for a while and studying Zen. That syncs up better with a helping profession like psychology, since you are cultivating compassion, empathy, and self-intimacy in meditation. This is just my opinion, of course. There are Zen masters who would probably say that profession is irrelevant if it's conducted mindfully. I personally think that the qualities you cultivate in your career should be qualities you are trying to cultivate as a human being. Otherwise you're fighting yourself and/or splitting off into 2 personalities, one for career, one for your personal life. Easier when they coincide.

I need to pick your brain.

 

[digesthisickness]

I am ewing at the response to the

if it makes you feel any better, CC, i'd assume that anyone who has come to the point in their life that they feel they need therapy, is vulnerable enough to cry, so i'd have tissues ready and would do my best to make sure they knew it was encouraged (and especially not frowned upon) if it helped.

that would just make sense (is logical) in my book.

 

[Tallulah]

if it makes you feel any better, CC, i'd assume that anyone who has come to the point in their life that they feel they need therapy, is vulnerable enough to cry, so i'd have tissues ready and would do my best to make sure they knew it was encouraged (and especially not frowned upon) if it helped.

that would just make sense (is logical) in my book.

Me, too. And I'd make sure that they felt comfortable enough in my presence to know that I was empathetic, even as I tried to maintain enough objectivity to give them insight. I know from past experience that absolute stoicism from your therapist when you're already feeling vulnerable makes you want to take your vulnerablilty somewhere else.

In other words, folks, hand them a freaking tissue.