Normal behaviour, or mental illness? (more concern about the new DSM)

[TM99]

5. Thank you.

While it is possible to practice this way, I must admit it is not always easy. I must often turn away potential clients simply because they can't afford to pay out of pocket even at sliding scale rates, and I do not take insurance. My practice is not as thriving as it was years ago, but honestly it is more fulfilling.

One issue that seems counter-intuitive that I have run into is the fact that many whom I see who have dealt with issues for many years are quite attached to their diagnoses. Parents who insist that their child will be as he is because he is autistic, yet I am only concerned with helping the boy to be happier and more integrated into his world. Abuse victims who cling to a diagnosis of PTSD or depression rather than accepting my challenge to find new ways to act, communicate, or live now not 20 years in the past. Rarely will they quite therapy with me, however, it can take some doing to get through the attachment to being 'mentally ill' and instead focusing on here & now approaches both physically and mentally to happiness.

Psychology and the medical model are poor bed fellows in my opinion.