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Mature female patient: “So you’re Dr. Goldstein! Wow , you’re dressed so elegant! I mean I feel really self-conscious! I just threw on a t-shirt and shorts…”

Dr. G: “Don’t worry, darling. You got it right — I’m the one who’s supposed to get dressed up. Now, you’re not going to think much of me.” Read more on Dr. Estelle gets a new patient…smiling, laughing…

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Insight is the awareness of one’s own illness and/or situation.

This summary is as good as any textbook definition of this relatively amorphous concept that has completely infiltrated the fabric of psychiatric practice. Read more on Estelle The Translator…

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I have always been protected by protective men and been resented for that.

I was obsessional about the quality of my homework, so when I was in prep school, I brought home (and back to school the next day) more books than anyone else. Read more on Thankful For Over-Protective Men…

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I met a nice fellow named “Hymie.”

That was the name on his name-tag when he sidled up to me in one of the inexpensive discount stores my husband and I frequent.

He sidled up, of course, while my husband was out of sight. Read more on Dr. Estelle Meets “Hymie”…

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The most beautiful full moon, and our Fashionista is glowing.

The Thanksgiving weekend was beautiful on the San Diego waterfront. Our Fashionista looks happy.

And how was YOUR Thanksgiving?

To see what our Fashionista is up to now — just go to Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/MedicalMaverick/?pnref=lhc

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I’m not exactly drunk with power, being a psychiatrist. I fight with insurance companies on a daily basis, — begging for one generic brand the patient can take over one that makes them sick as a dog, and such.

I don’t pretend to have control over everything that happens inside my office. I have a basic idea of the territory that should be covered, but the reactions to what I bring up are rich and individual and creative and tell me the essence of my patients’ spirits. Read more on Unhappy? Go Outside And Play!…

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Patient Profiling: Are You a Victim?

I’ve read things by Dr. Pamela Wible before and she is definitely on a piece of the right track. Read more on “Patient Profiling” as a cause of medical error….

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She was an older woman, gray-haired and distinguished, one of those Canadian imports who had never forgotten her British roots. They were as close by as her slight English accent. I had known many people in Canada just like her, who would say “I’m just an old Brit” because that is what they felt like, in the “melting pot” America was alleged at one time to be, or in rich ethnic salad of Canada.

We knew her from her singing. We sang in a “showcase” of sorts in the San Diego region. My husband’s rich and jazzy baritone, my humorous songs or French songs long before my post-menopausal “croak” set in. Read more on Back To The Blitz…

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We are like horses with blinders on.

We see that a compound does one thing, and rarely think of it as capable of doing another. Read more on “Like Horses With Blinders”…

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I asked a longtime patient what her therapist was working on.

“Working on? Well, she listens to me every week and I feel better afterward. I can tell her anything, and I really have nobody else to talk to …”

Another therapist who gets by with an easy hour. That is, of course, not therapy. Read more on What Is Your Therapist Working On?…

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