Annita Sawyer, PhD, er Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry ved Yale University. Hun er også privatpraktiserende psykoterapeut.
I mai i år holdt hun et foredrag med tittelen “Is Diagnosis Destiny?” ved The 9th Annual Yale NEA-BPD Conference. (Nedenfor finner du video med hele foredraget.)
Foredraget er et viktig, og svært personlig, innlegg om farene ved et snevert fokus på symptomer og diagnose. Hun tar utgangspunkt i sin egen erfaring som psykiatrisk pasient. Da hun var 17 år gammel ble hun innlagt i psykiatrisk sykehus og fikk diagnosen schizofreni. Hun var innlagt i 5 år. Etter flere reinnleggelser og forverring i hennes tilstand, ble hun til slutt «oppgitt» av sykehuset, med beskjed om at de ikke kunne gjøre mer for henne.
Gjennom private forbindelser klarte familien å få henne inn på et sykehus tilknyttet Columbia University, som motvillig tok imot henne. Hun måtte bl.a. underskrive på en erklæring om at hun ikke kunne forvente noen bedring i sin tilstand! Her kom hun etter hvert i psykoterapi hos tre ulike psykodynamiske psykoterapeuter, og denne behandlingen hjalp henne ut av sykdommen. Hun understreker betydningen av terapeutisk relasjon, holdning og forståelse:
«If I have one message to offer you, especially for therapists, but for families as well, it is to pay mindful attention, to listen and learn the language of the patient, rather than trying to apply what you think you already know. Never sit back and think you have it all figured out, but pay attention, keep an open mind – and do not give up!
What happened to me initially was a failure to pay attention. What ultimately enabled me to recover came from informed, careful, exquisitely personal attention. ….With today’s pressures, there will always be the temptation to think that you know the answer, without really looking at the particular individual in front of you, and to put him or her into the category at hand, because you have the latest drugs to prescribe, or the newest therapy to apply. These seemingly innocent errors can have devastating consequences. Even if you have the right diagnosis, everyone needs to be known as a whole, unique person. No one cures a diagnosis. The therapist that made a difference did not overlook the hidden messages in my behavior, or disregard my tremendous neediness.
To focus only on symptoms is a trap. It is by setting labels aside, by paying attention to the person right there, and holding yourself open to possibility, that you can save the lives of people like me.”
Se også følgende artikkel:
Sawyer, A. (2011). Let us talk: a narrative of mental illness, recovery, and the psychotherapist’s personal treatment. Journal of clinical psychology, 67(8), 776-788.