I left something out, I favor the couch, the classic Fainting Couch, such a great prop, and around since before the Greeks till 75 years ago. Soft dark red leather with diamond pleat and buttons. Like your desk it should be oversized, with high ceilings, tall windows, with drapes, all things to reduce the scale of a human in the room.
35 years ago the new profession claimed "Holistic" but went for the Priests of Psychobabble, not man in a complex world. The lot I knew from teaching University through on the job training in the community, long before they could get a real job, or hang a shingle, are where I learned of the field.
My Professional qualifications were, I was the best Euro Mechanic in town, and their social status drive caused them to buy cars from Europe. As far as I could tell it was some view that as the founders of Psychology were all from Europe, they held a Euro-Superior view. Being from the pre history of science, they were all going Clinical.
They bought cars, or more correctly, their family did upon graduation, without any local dealer, and with no knowledge of the engineering system behind the development. Like all fields of knowledge, there were founders, schools of engineering, and long developments to reach current design, and that was my interest, I studied the whole history of the company, and the direction of development. In the day it was English, French, German, Italian, and hardly anyone knew Saab.
I had started at fifteen, motorcycles, then was picked up on by the only shop that worked Euro cars, mostly for Doctors, 1960. Often the cars were in the shop for months, as the first thing ordered was the shop manuals, parts lists, from Europe. The parts were also ordered from Europe, as the few dealers did not stock parts, and thought the car should be shipped back to them, New York importer, for repairs. They would mark the parts up 500%, and send the wrong one months later, Europe by boat was faster.
Now the MDs were cool people, often they bought two the same, and sent one to the shop to start with. Once they knew us, their next car came with all the factory paperwork, special tools, and common spare parts. They also wanted to see thier car when we were at the mid point, everything torn down, cleaned, ready to go back together. They were into the art of the machine, when few in America spoke Metric.
Later, my own shop, out west, fifteen years later, with Psychology trying to gain Doctor, Euro, Status. First I doubt they could have found the country that built the car on a map. Next they had no idea of the history, the designers, engineers, who had made the company a great. While most of my problems were just parts orders, from the factory, a few got into letters/drawings about the problem with the Engineer who designed the engine. All designs have flaws that do not show up till a year out from the factory, and new parts are made to overcome the defect, which is why factory parts are current design, and dealer inventory is the old bad stuff.
So into my world came newly minted Clinical Psycholigists. To start with they parked in the front door, then wanted immediate attention. They blew the horn. When I am shimming out a gear set, I do not stop, it has to be right, or it self destructs. When I did get to talking to them I told them to get out of my shop, my light, and go park on the street. They then proceeded to tell me they wanted something fixed and they were in a hurry. My answer was bring it in next Monday. Then they said I had to do it now, beause they could not waste thier time. Did I say Monday? Monday a week is what I meant.
Some continued, I had grease on my hands, shirt, face, and they were trained in the Powers of the Mind. They were told to never darken my door again, Begone foul creature! I did have a reputation, hostile, agressive, whatever is in the DSM for rude.
Other customers were better, parked on the street, stood at the door till I came to talk to them. I would look at the car, get a history and milage, and tell them where they were in factory recomended service. Most just wanted me to fix one thing that they had noticed, and I told them that only when all the parts work together will it work. The occasional miss is because of plugs, carb, timing, and all must be done at once, with an oil change. Most thought I was over charging them, but having no other service in 500 miles, they agreed.
I would book them an hour or two, and educate them about their car as I serviced it, and told them when to bring it back, before it gave problems, and it would never be a problem. Few listened. They skipped the $100 service, and were back behind a tow truck later with a $2,000 job.
I got work through word of mouth, some of my customers had no problems, showed up for regular service, their cars ran. From this same group, for the old talked to the new, I had two repuations. One group described me in DSM terms, thought I should be locked up and put on drugs. The other group said, yes, but he can fix machines. Being the only game in town, they all tried their luck.
I have had all sorts of Clinical Psychology run on me. I would say most lacked people skills. Book learning prepared them to make decisions about other people's lives, but not their own, or how to get their car fixed at a shop.
Looking back, I should have had a couch. Most were so tied up in image and ownership problems. I did find several root causes, some were seeking an expert answer. Most were manipulators, who got a degree in it. Some came and asked my permission to buy a car, for without support, they were doomed. They were my favorite of the class. Coming to a mechanic before buying a car.
They were not the rich kids, but they wanted in, and there was this car that an older person had, he was leaving, they could buy it cheap, but it had problems, and it was the one that I had told to never darken my door again. He was asking too much, I told them what to offer, when, and gave them the card of my tow truck. Most important, never mention my name, or that you spoke with me.
A few days later the car was at my shop, with a pre agreed price, and it became like new. Overall it was less than his asking price, which was about half what it was worth.
This last group saw me as the God of Cars, I could smite with lightning, or bless, and they came to my temple to pray for mercy. They would submit to my power, and were blessed in return.
This was about 1975, nothing about HFA was known, but I am different, always have been. I got a lot of low grade views from my customers, for some said one thing, and some another, and no one was right about the mechanic. On the other side, I saw lots of people going down the same Clinical Psych path, in a fairly common but stressful situation, My Car!
From this I would say they were people, just like my other customers, not as bright in mechanics, but just people. They had a narrow range of behavior, from being the dominate person, pulling in the door, blowing the horn, demanding immediate attention, to totally submissive coming to pray for permission to buy a car. Their education had not prepared them to live in the world, they were stunted children. Their education had not taught them the most important thing, how to learn broadly.
Their largest investment after education, they did not know anything about cars, and the European model they chose. They got in real deep without any knowledge or history. They became dependant on something they did not understand. Education is for Professional life, but it is not like you will be driving a car through that life?
They had not trancended being human, in fact, they were not good at it. They were a little ahead of you amazon_television, had the Masters, were just getting out for field training, starting in their Profession.
I have the uneducated Black guy to compare them to. He could not pay my rates, but was into Euro cars. He knew every model, history, and what parts could be swapped out. He knew his main line, VW, by engine number, for they did make some dogs. He had a lot of social status to overcome, Black, uneducated, and a mechanic. He was also huge and evil looking. I had thousands in tools and parts around.
It took him hardly any time, he had the run of the shop, could use empty space, and we traded parts. He was a master at avoiding conflict, and building trust. He was a product of the getto, and those skills will keep you alive. In a world where everything was stacked against him, he was one of the most functional, fully human, people I have met.
He had to deal with all the conflicts of life, and he was hundreds of years older than my university customers. When they showed up he vanished, my business, but stayed close enough to listen, and then later told me about the person, what they worked from. He was never wrong.
He was like my South China waitress, who lived several lifetimes in China, before coming to America in a shipping container, and working in a celler in China Town New York to pay for her passage. Her family lived in what I would call a small bedroom or large closet. They all worked and 90% of income went for food, and there was never enough. She crossed the world, paid for it, and now can eat every day. Along the way she learned people.
Her daughter has an American birth certificate, is getting the best education, and another twenty years of work, she can watch her daughter live the American life, and not starve to death in old age. She understands English, but barly speaks, for Chinese girls don't.
I meet my own kind. My own life has not been easy, Autistic, but I don't quit. I am open to others of the type, it was not easy, but they made something of it. So if I want to know about a car, I ask a mechanic. Like the Black guy who could not afford me, we trade. The waitress wants her daughter to speak English like I do. When I am speaking with someone else she sends the girl to sit close by and listen. The ABC (American Born Chinese) teens engage me in conversation, the second grader sit near with her coloring book. The teens are the first generation to speak English, but speak Chinese when together. So we put on our English show for the little girl.
What I find is those who rise above their origens have a depth of perception about humans that is lacking in book learning. I do see it as Anthropology. Cultures produce greeters, who can cross boundries. Culture does not carry, but a knowledge of humans is the same. My doubts about Clinical Psychology is it is American Mainstream. My other view is, NT Psychology.
White middle America is still the hardest place for me. I do much better with the rest of the world. As only human skills cross cultural boundries, I find I do have the basics that let me travel, except in my own country, class, race, where I am not welcome. Middle America, American Blacks, Chinese, Islamic, I am welcomed, we do meet at human, and differances are normal.
So my watershed, Behavior, Psychology seeks differances, humanity seeks sameness.
While it is obvious that humans cross out of their cutures for a reason, that they seek goals, people who can help them, and common ground, Psychology lacks a goal. Any way you slice it it is no longer a whole. Anthropology has the same problem, just learning the ways of another culture is not joining with them.
What I see is diverse backgrounds, common goals, common humanity. That is not to say all hairless ground apes are equal, just some can see the ape in very different people, and make contact. I look for that level of sameness.
Psychology looks at a person, their mental process, as a stand alone. The most it can do is make them feel better about being themselves. It lacks being connected to the world. I may be talking about what Jung called the Collective Unconcious. Beyond day to day awareness, we are connected. finding those connections in others are only fragments, but they are strong threads that bind. It is what we seek in friendship, mates, different of course, but a few points of sameness.
As for differances worth study, Genetics does produce Neurology, which I think has a lot to do with Psychology. Am I Autistic? Or am I a Wood Rooster, Scorpio, ENTP? Are there patterns beyond Genetics? All of my characters in this post came up hard, but kept going, and reached the ability to read something in people. The Black guy, the Chinese waitress, my Autistic self, in contrast to the range seen in those who's only challenge was getting a degree. People with high IQs are not the smart ones.
So in this complex pattern of patterns, the Collective Unconcious, what works? Is it the American view of being highly social without any real connection, which seems to be the main cause of our economic problems, our short and tortured marriages, and our vast network of friends, in name only. Or could it be the old view, meaningful personal connections, a few friends, long term, marriage for life, and using what little energy we have to build a personal connection to the collective unconcious through finding the human sameness in others?
A lot can be learned through the study of the Genome, there is not one Psychology, but many. Even then, the study of a human, en vitro, does not show the connections that let them function.
When the study is focused on failure to function, which is needed, it is not all, and that view expanded, get out more, meet more people, leads to a superficial view of mental health. Adversity and depression are natures way of producing change. Our carpet raised and over protected society is producing a lot of mental and social problems. Loss of adversity is loss of meaning. America is living in a world without meaning.
The meaning of psychology is we are like Doctors a have a pill for everything. Back in the 60s they had a good deal of the nation on uppers and downers, the Speed epidemic started with Psychology, now pushed as Ritlin, since the scripts for speed and barbs were taken away. The ony time pills are the answer to life is if you are a drug company, or a local pusher for one.
Treating symptoms is not treating the person, just your bank account and a drug industry. Children are put on drugs to make them robots in school, and it continues for as long as they can get away with it. The rest of the world changed the schools, the teachers, but not the children. They will stand as expert witnesses in court about how to raise children, they don't have any, but once read part of a book and took a test and got a Degree in something that they claim makes them expert.
You can go to school, get a Masters in Fine Art, it does not make you a painter, it is a gifted and talented field and all the education in the world cannot make an artist. A Masters in History does not allow you to drug people into being Historically Correct.
Psychology is not Science or Medicine, it is a New Age Religion.
This Cult of Happy has lead to our current economy, or lack there of, we need an Economy Pill, we need Psychologists, for it is long term Depression.
Behavior Analysis is from Marketing, it was well studied, it is what packaging can sell a shody product. It is often used in Politics, what package of lies will get more than half the votes. Before marketing it was Psychological Warfare, which developed during the Korean War, then was used on the American population.
It was the lacky of the Corporate State, where people were workers and consumers, that exist to make money for Share Holders. Psych Warfare, later Psychology, were their cheerleaders.
I have read hundreds of, this is what an idiot threpist said, threads here, and not one about the coolist thing my shrink said that enlightened me and explained a lot, not one.
The self important back slapping in the field is not supported by any of the people who have dealt with it. Even their mechanic thinks they are an immature lot, living in a state of denial.
Their work in marketing has destroyed what was once the best economy on Earth, sold out for short term goals, and their happy, happy, you should feel good about who you are, as is, has lead to an epidemic of the Obese.
It is what happens when you have a generation raised on drugs, told to take the easy way, to feel empowered by just existing. It has lead to the isolation of the person, having no connection to life, who in a drugged state listens to propaganda telling them to comsume for happiness.
The result is millions of people weighing over 300 pounds waddling forward, feeling good about them selves with the help of pills, an ever growing army like nothing that has ever existed before.
Psychology has produced the ultimate consumer.
I am sticking with the Chinese waitress, she is Reality Based.
02 Dec 2009, 8:14 pm
