Woman made a mental health resume for her new therapist.
Here’s why experts say that’s a good idea–
The following written content by Colleen Murphy
We’ve all experienced being a new patient of an unfamiliar doctor. The transition process to a new provider has its pain points—new office procedures, new forms to fill out, and having to rehash your entire medical history during your first visit.
One woman on Twitter has a solution for that latter issue. On April 20, a user who goes by Carol posted a picture of her mental health “resume,” something she made for her new therapist so she didn’t “have to waste time catching [the therapist] up.” Included in the resume are all the disorders, traumas, treatments, medications, and coping mechanisms in Carol’s medical history. Carol also listed her target behaviors, so her new therapist would know what her therapy goals are. (Carol blurred that section out for privacy reasons.)
The resume tweet attracted a lot of attention, with more than 132,000 users liking it. “Wow, this is so smart! I hate to say it but the hardest thing about getting a new therapist is the 3-4 ‘Let’s get you caught up’ sessions before we can even start talking about what’s new,” one person wrote. “This is honestly such a good idea! I went through 5 counselors in less than 4 years and I had to just keep retelling everything over and over again which is really tiring,” someone else said.
Some people asked for a resume template of their own, so Carol shared an outline (without her personal information) to show how she organized it.
It’s not just patients who are excited about the idea. “As a therapist, I would LOVE this from a client. As a client I just might do this for my next therapist,” someone commented.
Michi Fu, PhD, a psychologist at Garfield Health Center in Los Angeles, tells Health that a pre-prepared, detailed list like this would help her learn about a new patient’s history. She says she’d probably use it as an initial conversation starting point, in combination with the intake paperwork that she has her patients fill out before treatment.
But a patient-made resume isn’t something she’d primarily rely on. “Experiences may vary greatly between individuals,” Fu explains. “For example, the impact of witnessing intimate partner violence can be different depending on the duration, intensity, frequency, type of violence, etc. so it would be important to clarify the points on an already-prepared detailed list.” Read more from Health.
