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I post a lot of shit on here about my time as a psychologist in the US and in academia, and that's annoying AF, so here's a happy story.

Right around when I first started my private practice in 2012, a person came in wanting help with weight loss. They had been on high doses of psychiatric medications for years, and were tapering themselves off.

900 mg of seroquel
5-7 mg of klonopin
120 mg of paxil

All this was for a bipolar diagnosis they received in the 1980s after a single manic episode after they were prescribed a tricyclic antidepressant. They were a prodigal musician, even achieving first chair/principal in a symphony orchestra at an unheard of age. There was a fuck ton of pressure in their life at the time.

Unfortunately they weren't able to maintain this high stress life and fell into a depression, but because they had the bipolar diagnosis they were given atypical antipsychotic medications at higher and higher doses. Long story short, they ended up on permanent disability with limited resources.

So we worked together for years, meeting twice a week. They couldn't afford their high co-pays from their shitty medicare advantage plan, so we came up with a barter system where they paid me in Snapple iced tea and other fun beverages and I wrote off the rest of the co-pay. I've never been so well hydrated.

It became pretty clear they didn't have bipolar disorder, so we had to unpack that revelation. It was childhood trauma, cPTSD. The lifetime of messages that they received of being unable to care for themselves from friends, family, and the healthcare system slowly was replaced with stronger and stronger beliefs in their capabilities.

One day, they mused on the idea of relocating to another state and attending college. I basically was like absofuckinlutely you should. And they eventually did. I'm not going to pretend it was a walk in the park, and we continued to meet during the transition. But once they got rolling in school, we stopped formally meeting as doctor-patient. But they keep me updated via text from time to time about how things were going.

They graduated this year with their bachelor's degree with honors and are attending a masters program this fall.

It's hands down the best thing that's happened to me in my life as a psychologist.