Social Class And Ptsd

[Richie]

i understand what you are saying but bear in mind that my journey started with the intention of working exclusively with the Armed Forces because i am aware of the problems within the UK and its lack of support. most of them get passed to civilian therapists which creates more problems and it keeps coming up that me being ex forces will help with their therapy because of the culture and language barriers being removed. this forum has generated a more open eyed view of PTSD and maybe i can do some good for people who are not military (i dont know yet) but i am still only human and i have my limitations just like anyone else. i cant do everything so my energies are going to be spent on quality rather than quantity because i want to be good at it for the patients sake. doing something that i will not be good at can only do more harm so i would rather see them with someone who would be better for them.

as for me becoming traumatised......i cant see that happening. i am extremely emotionally detached which is why i run away from relationships before they happen. i dont know if i am even capable of an emotional attachment any more but right now i dont have time for that anyway. on friday i attended my grandmothers funeral which meant seeing family who i havent seen in 10 years plus (by choice) and i was anxious about it but it turned out ok. then i attended my college class in the afternoon much to the surprise of my tutor and classmates. they all thought i was nuts for going but as i said, this morning was my past, this afternoon is my future! i know that will raise a few eyebrows but i dont really care what people think. my goal is clear and nothing is going to stop me going after it.

i may be proven wrong on some things but i guess time will tell. nothing worth having is easy!

 

[Never_falter2]

I know of someone close to me who chose to ' downsize ' on their social standing....never looked ba...

I think that it is a good option if you don't have kids... our children are very young now, but I would feel it would be unfair for our kids if we did not try our best to give them all chances in life (such as private school education, sports training, possibility to spend some time abroad and so on) if there is a possibility we can do this for them.

Right now we would not be able to afford private schooling but we hope that we will when our children have the age.

 

[Never_falter2]

Our parents worked very hard for us so we want to do the same for our children. Sorry, cannot edit.

 

[Never_falter2]

objective view: money does not buy magic cures so it should not matter. we are all human beings so we ar...

It's not the first time I hear the opinion that only working class people/poor people are "real people", who "have lived"' "live in the real world" and so on.
Why do you/do some people think so?

 

[Richie]

the laws of probability! it is not a judgement on the people with money, it is merely looking at statistics. poor areas = higher crime rates = increased chance of traumatic events.
just to clarify my previous points, i am suggesting that i am not willing to deal with wealthier people. i am just very focused on what kind of therapy i want to practice in. if someone bursts into a 3 million pound house and demands 50 grand at gunpoint then that is very different to a business deal going bad but both scenarios could involve the same person. one is clearly traumatic and the other is not as clear but i would only be able to deal with the clearly traumatic scenario (in theory).

 

[Never_falter2]

@Richie: but what will you do if one day Charles xxx, fourth earl of xxx, walks into your office and tells you his combat PTSD is so bad he lost his well paid management job and now is afraid his friends from xxx college preparatory school do not respect him any more and he might be forced to sell xxx hall, which was owned by the family since 1602.

 

[Never_falter2]

the laws of probability! it is not a judgement on the people with money, it is merely looking at statist...

I agree but OTOH there are traumatic scenarios that can only happen to the rich, like ending up in a private plan crash, speeding with your new jaguar and so on.

Where I am from people old and wealthy families are also likely to enter the military (out of family tradition).

 

[Suzetig]

i am extremely emotionally detached which is why i run away from relationships before they happen. i dont know if i am even capable of an emotional attachment any more but right now i dont have time for that anyway.

This one thing gives me more cause for concern about you as a practitioner - therapy clients need and deserve people who care, who let their clients matter to them and can empathise, feel their pain and be in it with them. It is by no means a job for someone who is emotionally detached.

I don't want to take the topic off course any more than I have but I would suggest you have a lot of personal development work to do on yourself before you're ready to see clients. If I were you I'd start by taking myself into personal therapy with someone who practices humanistic/relational therapy and stay there for a good long while. And I don't mean that as a negative or in a derogatory way - you can only take a client as far as you've gone yourself.

 

[Suzetig]

i cant do everything so my energies are going to be spent on quality rather than quantity because i want to be good at it for the patients sake. n

The fuller your knowledge and wider your experience, the better you'll be. Trauma is a specialism for a reason, it's hard, demanding work with people who have varying degrees of vulnerability. The more you work with *people* the more you'll be able to adapt your practice. Being focussed is a good thing, being blinkered isn't.

 

[Richie]

he would be there to be treated for Combat PTSD which is the cause, not the effect. i have no problem with that man being in front of me and i would do my very best for him

i am not against people having money but i will never understand someones life being so centred on it that losing some of it can affect them so badly. i just think there are more meaningful things in life than a bank balance although i do understand people wanting to improve their life for themselves and kids.

 

[Suzetig]

I would hope you'd do your best fit every person who came to you and yes that sometimes means referring people to someone more able to help. Equally sometimes it means setting aside your prejudgment and bias in the service of your client, regardless of whether you personally think X should be an issue to them.

 

[Never_falter2]

I think it is not that well-off people are so much after the money. Some are but for some loosing money means something different.
I think they feel that they have proven themselves unworthy of their families of origin, they are not as good as their friends, they feel like an outcast from the society of people who matter for them like their former classmates, friends and family members.

My husband (who is not extremely rich but upper middle class) once lost his upper middle class job and had to work in a working class job and it was very bad for his selfesteem because e felt like he had all the chances at his fingertips but still spoilt it which made him question his selfworth and made him feel he was different from other people in his class. He now works in an upper middle class job again and it has been a blessing for his self worth.

Must be even worse if you have been extremely rich but lost it.