The problem with taking a lot of those problems you mentioned out from under the medical umbrella is access to care. If insurance doesn't cover it, most people can't shell out $125 (or more) per session. But without coaching/therapy/intervention/help/whatever you want to call it, those people will continue in the same patterns, often spiraling further and further downwards until it does become medical.
So maybe keeping it under the medical umbrella is akin to preventative care. At the very least, it is a grey and blurry line differentiating the two.
It is not the case that without insurance therapy is unaffordable. Sliding scale fees become possible when there are no third parties involved. My highest fee is well under $125/session. I know rather well known analysts whose fees range from $20 - 135/session. Insurance has driven fees up due to costs of billing, added paperwork and delays in reimbursement which add to overhead.
Hello, I have enjoyed reading your blog since I stumbled across it regarding the TV show "In Treatment". I look forward to reading more of the discussions you have with your son as he continues his training. I am in my final year of a DPysch in Clinical Psychology in Australia. It is an interesting time to be entering the profession. The final line of your post really resonates with me.
This presumes that the care of the soul can be differentiated from the care of the body which of course is how we think of medical science. But that isn't true as I'm sure any therapist (and any enlightened medical doctor) would acknowledge. A major part of the problem as I see it is simply the fact that the insurance companies don't want to keep on paying with no end in sight. While many physical ailments present with a possible 'final' cure, i.e. a valid end of the treatment (or death), the care of the soul and spirit is an ongoing, progressive, never-ending condition. Until death of course. The soul is never 'cured'. It never reaches it's final destination, not in this life anyway. Insurance companies that are willing to take this expense on would be out of business in a very short time, so they have to come up with something. Their solution is imperfect. This is not a problem that can be solved by any 'medical model' I think. There simply ain't enough money out there.
I agree -- the medical model does not work for care of the soul.
Commenting by HaloScan
