Cliff Straehley3 MD

As a way of introducing myself, I am posting some brief articles on this web site about relevant topics for people with psychological problems. You'll have to take it from me (or maybe you won’t), that in person, I am more lighthearted and humorous then I will come across during these essays. I've learned that when I try to express myself in writing, it can be difficult to understand my ideas. My writing tends to be, "too dense" in the sense that I can't yet get a balance between offering abstract ideas and using enough examples to illustrate what I'm trying to explain. I'm aware of the problem, but I don't yet have the solution.

As I try to convey some sense of who I really am, and how I work with clients, I will be simultaneously trying to offer you something useful. Hopefully reading this web site will be a means to those two ends.

I hope this web site is useful for you. However, it cannot substitute for one-to-one treatment by a mental health professional. In my experience, many people try too hard to "tough it out", thereby experiencing needless suffering. And if you are having thoughts about ending your life or harming yourself, I advise getting help immediately. If your symptoms are so severe that they impair your ability to work, be a parent, or have fun, why not try getting help.  Suicide is a permanent, needless way to try to end a temporary problem.

MY PROFESSIONAL PHILOSOPHY

Twenty-five years of practicing clinical medicine in three other medical specialties taught Dr. Straehley that no patients feel so stigmatized as those with psychological problems. Clients tend to be embarrassed, a change, and frightened of the mere idea of having a mental illness. Would you rather be hospitalized for a mental illness, or for a heart attack? Not only is there societal stigmatization, but clients themselves tend to harshly judge themselves, if they have psychological problems.

By adopting the viewpoint that much emotional suffering can be "disappeared" by learning and behavior change, the patient can regard him/herself as ignorant; not as somehow deeply defective. Some patients will also have to learn how to cope with "abnormal biochemistry", the same as would a diabetic. Some patients may need to take psychiatric medications all their lives. That still does not mean that they are defective or flawed as human beings. They may have a disease, but they are not themselves "diseased".

To illustrate my point with a couple specific examples, most nations to come to me for treatment, haven't yet learned how to cope effectively with anxiety and/or depression. That skill is definitely learnable. It may require hard work, but remaining ignorant of the skills required to minimize anxiety and depression also causes life to be very hard. Another example is ignorance about the ability to enjoy interpersonal relationships. Learning to be able to maintain personal boundaries and set limits with others can greatly increase a person's enjoyment of their friends and loved ones.

To summarize to a certain extent it's like getting a college degree for a person who has a severe psychological problem. There are different courses, all of which are learnable with hard work, which allow a person to acquire the skills needed to lead an enjoyable and gratifying life. At the worst one has to admit to being ignorant about certain abilities. At the worst one can truly say, "I haven't learned how to do that yet." That feels very different from the common conviction that there is something shameful and bad about me which the majority of clients with psychological problems bring with them into my office.

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