Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Speed Shrinking


Somehow, I missed this one. Thanks to Buggy for pointing it out!

What do you do when your shrink's away and you've got a crisis? Wait? Call coverage? A group of New Yorkers have set up their own speed shrinking networking service in bookstores and taverns.
From The NY Times, August 31, 2009, Vincent Mallozzi writes "Answers to Life's Worries, in 3 minutes Bursts."

Instead, Ms. Tang went to talk about her fears with a panel of eight psychiatrists and psychologists offering three-minute sessions of what was billed as “speed shrinking” to those whose regular therapists were on vacation or to anyone else needing a very fast dose of advice.

“At first glance, this appears to be a funny, lighthearted thing,” said one of the therapists, Jonathan Fast, who is also a professor at Yeshiva University. “But what I have discovered is that these brief conversations absolutely turn into real therapy. You start with the classic ‘What can I help you with?’ and make a really fast assessment.”


So this is not what I do. I have no super-rapid diagnostic skills and no magical wisdom worth imparting in 3 minutes. I thought they invented grandmothers for this stuff. And Mr. Mallozzi makes therapy sound a little too trite and a little too self-consumed for my liking. Psychiatrists are good at diagnosing and treating psychiatric illnesses, and some are good at psychotherapy. I don't think this conveys any level of expertise for life-decision advise for strangers. Ah, but this wasn't really one we'd pass by on Shrink Rap.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speed Shrinking is really about finding a new therapist that you have a rapport with. It's not really about getting actual therapy in 3 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Look at how defensive you are! It's quite funny, I think. And I second anonymous #1: it's not about getting real therapy in 3 minutes. No one really thinks that!!

susan shapiro said...

It was just a fun book party for my comic novel by the same title! Nothing like overanalyzing!

FooFoo5 said...

And once "shrinked," you can box it to take home like left-overs. Far be it from me to provoke one of those "brandname" wars, but I am consoled knowing I've seen a few lawyers respond here.

Sunny CA said...

Roy, I just signed up on Twitter and added you to my "follow" list. In case there's an accept or reject, just letting you know I came from here.

Dinah said...

Okay, so I'm too uptight!
Maybe a 3 minute therapy session would loosen me up!

Doc said...

Does it come with fries?

Anonymous said...

Can you really find out in three minutes if you have a rapport with a new therapist? I think that's a stretch. I think Speed Shrinking is even scarier than Speed Dating. At least with Speed Dating, a glass of wine and a few laughs are possible.