"Bruce J. Richman" wrote in message
...
Robert Morein wrote:


"Bruce J. Richman" wrote in message
...
Lionel wrote:


Bob I'm a little bit ashamed to request this service...
...I believe to remember that once you told me a story about one of
your
friend or perhaps the husband, wife, girl/boy friend of one of your
friend
who was a french psychologist and has some problems to excerce his/her
profession in USA.

I know it's not really important for you but Bruce is challanging in
an
other thread.

Thank you for your help,
Lionel

This is, needless to say, a misrepresentation of the tacts. Lionel has
unforunately tried to justify character assassination by bringing up a
discussion between Bob Morein and himself re. a "French psycholoigst".
Lionel
is now lying about what I've said. He has also claimed that you told
him
the
French psychologist suffered from "mentality incompatibility" and he
further
claims, as part of his ongoing character assassination games, that
after
talking to me, he understands this.

He now is claiming ignorance and claims he can't find the relevant
Google
post,
even though he was provided with a link to it and was quoted directly.

I like you both, so this is hard to take.

I'm glad to hear it. There is no reason for you to feel otherwise, I
would
hope.


This story was given to me by a family relation who knows the woman in
question. Therefore, I can't provide the depth that either of you would
require to assassinate the other .

I have no interest in character assassination. Until he started with
personal
insults and thinly veiled attempts at character assassination, I had not
made
negative comments about Lionel's "personal": or "intellectual" qualiities.
It
appears, unfortunately, that like a few others on RAO (2, in particular
), he
cannot accept disagreement on an issue very easily without responding with
personal insults. If he were in therapy and I noticed this, it would be
an
issue to work on .


The woman is a French national, and was a practicing psychotherapist in
France.

Ah, thanks, Bob. That may help to clarify things. Lionel probably
mispoke or
misunderstood when she claimed you were talking about a French
"psychologist".

I don't mean to undercut you here, but I don't know which category she falls
into.

As I'm sure you know, "psychotherapist" is a generic term in the US and
generally refers to somebody trained at the Master's level (or even below
if
working in a public agency). Most states do not license people at the
Master's
level as "psychoterapists{", but rather llicense them as "licensed
clinical
social workers" or "licensed mental health counselors" or "licensed
marriarge &
family therapists". All of these licenses require a Master's degree at a
minimum.
The minimum requirement to be licensed as a psychologist would be a Ph.D.
or
Psy.D. (or its equivalent) from an American University. When evaluating
people
from other countries, American licensing boards are very strict and
consider
the extent to which the person's training corresponds to that required in
the
US. A friend of mine has a doctorate in Psychyology from Columbia (the
country, nhot the university); it is not recognized here as equivalent to
an
American doctorate, so she can not be licensed as a psychologist (she is
licensed as a mental health counselor).



She emigrated to the U.S., and became a permanent resident here.
She does not practice psychotherapy here, because, she states, her
training/orientation would have been useless. She attributed this to a
profound difference in culture.

This is a strange conclusiion, IMHO, for her to reach. While I certainly
make
no pretense of being familiar with French trainign programs in
psychotherapy,
there are very few mainstream approaches to therapy that are almost
universally
practiced, and are relatively culture-free. The 2 major approaches
employed by
most professionals are (1) psychodynamic, insight-oriented therapy, and
(2)
coginitive-behavioral, learning-theory-oriented therapy,


My relative has negotiated with French businessmen, both in and out of
France.
He was given lessons on how to interact with persons of French culture,
so
as to avoid misunderstanding by inadvertent subconscious miscues.

In particular, I was told, the French regard direct, intense eye contact
as
a vital proof of sincerity. In Anglo Saxon culture, eye contact is more
fleeting. Apparently, I would do well in France, because I have a very
intense stare .


Are you saying that this woman found it difficult to conduct therapy
because of
stylistic differences in which her "therapy style" favors a lot of eye
contact
and direct communication.

No. I'm mixing in comments from my relative (identified as such) with
comments from the French woman.
I have no specific information as to what made her conclude that a
continuation of her professional career in the U.S. was impossible.


If so, she should not find that incompatible with a
cognitive-behavioral approach to therapy.
(Not the spproach used on The Sopranos, regrettably).

My post-doctoral training program (in Philadephia, btw - Temple Medical
School
and EPPI) had psychologists and psychiatrists present from a number of
Euriopean countries, so at least as regards a behavioral approach,
cuiltural
differences did not appear to be an issue.

There is also a difference in the handshake, but I can't remember what it
was.

Another example: the French, I am told, prefer to do business by direct,
face-to-face contact. In Anglo-Saxon culture, arranging a visit to a
person's office may be regarded as superflous, or in some cases, even
offensive. For example, in the entertainment industry, which is my
current
focus, it is regarded as an offense to request to visit an agent, rep, or
manager. When the possibility of a definite contractual relationship
arises,
there may be a visit, but not before then.

I can tell you that I offended a French person mortally, some years ago,
by
picking my teeth in front of him. All I can say in defense is that my
gums
were killing me .

I do not know the full extent of it, but it would appear to me that there
is
much of interest here.




Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Perhaps part of the problem is Lionel's
desire to demonstrate his "flaming skills" (I think he regards this all as
a
big game), coupled with a poor choice of vocabulary.
Certainly nothing you've said about this woman indicates that she suffered
from
what Lionel called "mentality incompatibility". Although it's just my
subjective opinion, I would advise her to discuss her "culture shock"
problem
re. the practice of psychotherapy in the US with a licensed therapist with
whom
she feels comfortable. It may also be advisable for her to consider
getting
additional training. Philadelphia is an excellent center for training in
CBT,
with the most well known facility being the Center for Cognitive Therapy.

Apparently, this goes some years back. I'm not in a communicative position
with her, and she lives in California.