"I have a couple of suggestions to help prevent future misunderstandings such as the one that occurred today between me, you and Dr. Telch. Here is the process I followed: I logged into the "University of Texas at Austin LSAD Online Testing and Interview System" and completed several questionnaires. Then, as requested, I sent an email to LSAD@telchlab.com. Since all of this fell under the heading of "University of Texas at Austin LSAD Online Testing and Interview System" and the email goes to a lab address and the introduction states: "Dr. Telch or one of his staff will contact you as soon as possible" and mentions nothing about Dr. Telch's private practice; I am not sure how it was misunderstood that I wanted a private session with him. Also, nothing in your emails indicated that is what I was scheduling; I assumed it was some sort of screening process for the lab. As far as Dr. Telch's attitude, you may want to suggest to him that he use a more compassionate and less condescending tone with someone he knows to be suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. Furthermore, I think he should be embarrassed to tout himself as "one of the world's gurus on panic attacks" when he acts like an average conceited jerk. You may want to revisit your process."
About an hour later I got a call from Dr. Telch apologizing for the "misunderstanding." He said he would be willing to offer me a couple of follow up sessions free of charge to compensate for what happened. He made it clear they would be "at UT, not at my home" as if I had invaded his home against his will. He also sent me an apologetic email as did his "assistant." Neither of them addressed the cause of the "misunderstanding" and I now have no desire to work with him on any level.
My mom, my marketing professional friend C. and my roommate J. all think that he's pulling some sort of scam to get vulnerable people into his office for expensive private sessions. C. said it sounded like the old bait-and-switch and that I should report him to UT. I'm not sure if I should go there or not...
11 comments:
I totally agree. It sounds to me like he is using his affiliation to UT to make money on the side. A less confident person might have gone through with the private appointment.
that is a great email!!
it made go like this:
OOOOOooooooohhhhhh
It sounds to me like he is up to no good too. I would report him, especially since you don't plan on working with him anyway. I would be suspicious to accept his free appointments since he could see you "free" and then send you a bill later, which could turn into a huge mess.
Sounds qwacky and unprofessional to me. If you had known and agreed to go to his home office that would be different. Good luck with the accupuncture, it works well for me.
I currently work with a student of Telch's, here's my 2 cents...
1) He IS one the world's leading authorities on anxiety disorders.
2) He does appear to be an egomaniac.
3) He does make a ton of money from his practice and from his students' practices.
4) 3 choices when you work with him.
a)use him for $220/hr
b)Use a grad student of his for $90/hr
c)be part of the undergrad program for free, aka, you're a lab rat basically and working with someone with very little experience.
I am working with one of his grad students that is quite knowledgeable and experienced. At $90/session with no insurance coverage, we'll see how long I can hang in there. Yes, that's pricey for a grad student therapist, yet less than many other therapists and you have Telch monitoring the case.
All I know is I've been suffering way too long with Panic Disorder and it's time to try something, so why not with one of the world's leading experts on the topic.
@Anonymous: thank you for the 2 cents. I ended up participating in the panic group with his grad students in late 2006. It was helpful but it turned out my panic attacks were a side effect of one of the medications I was taking [my psychiatrist didn't believe me about that until I quit taking it & they ceased.] I still struggle with some anxiety but it's managed with medication. Thankfully, I haven't had a full-blown panic attack in years.
Roxie, that's great to hear you are no longer experiencing panic. I hope to be in the same position someday. For now I can barely leave the house, hopefully one day that will change. I'm still not sure about the Telch students as being a good route. For now I have stopped treatment.
Dr. Telch treated my mother for severe panic attacks over 15 years ago. She lost tons of weight, couldn't sleep, hair falling out, and left my dad. After 7 sessions with him, she has not had one single panic attack since. The guy may be an arrogant jerk, but if anyone has the right to be, it is him. He knows what he is doing, and he saved my mom's life and her marriage to my dad. She still talks about him and his techniques at least once a month after 15 years. He's a badass, and I would recommend him to anyone I care about that is suffering from anxiety.
I too have been too see Dr Telch in the recent past and would categorically echo everything the original poster said. It was almost scary how similar; I had a brief moment where I thought I might have written the post myself through the first few lines. For the sake of balance, I would also concur with the other poster regarding his second to none expertise and vital role in my improvement. I was seeing regarding similar issues with a measure of OCD. While he was instumental in allieviating distress from very acute obsessions, his tone and style absolutely tested my already fragile sense of confidence in my own thinking and confusion level. I was seeing him precisely because I didn't know what to think or exactly how I felt about things and he was trying to use a lot of rhetorical engagements to help me 'snap' out of it and realize the absurdity of what I was saying. This in many ways created greater confusion because I already 'knew' the absurdity of some of my thinking but I couldn't stop 'feeling' confused by it, and he wasnt helping me get to any sources of threat that might cause the confusion. Needless needless to say, it was ultimately a net positive but later on I worked with a different specialist who combined the treatment strategies he used with a far more forgiving tone; invaluable attention to detail for someone already struggling with articulating what is is 'really' bothering them when it's obvious that they are in distress. If they could make sense out of that question, they probably wouldnt be in the office in the first place. Anyway, he's a great doc but is a better fit with some than others, and sometimes that can make a world of difference in progress.
If you are looking for someone to nurture your inner child.. Dr . Telch may not be for you. But good luck with your panic attacks! Both you and your inner child will be having them together. He IS the world's leading Guru on panic and anxiety! It has been well over 10 yrs since I saw him ( at his house)...having panic attacks the whole time. Long story short... This was undoubtedly the hardest therapy I've ever done in my life and I've done a lot of therapy having always suffered from anxiety but it was the single greatest choice I've ever made regarding my sanity and well being. 6 or 7 sessions later I was cured, NO PANIC ATTACKS IN ALL THE YRS FOLLOWING... No not one. He gave me my life back pure and simple and helped me to understand how all my irrational thinking was the major cause of all my panic...very powerful information...life changing
I saw Dr Telch for a few years. He got married during that time. He guaranteed a cure for my anxiety disorder. I did EVERYTHING he asked. Towards the end he had me d/c my paxil and clonazepam. Within months I had a set back and he pressured me not to return to medication. I didn't. I felt that if the best couldn't help me, I was hopeless. This compounded the problem and I became extremely anxious and depressed. At that point he told me out of the blue that he couldn't help me. So in a time of significant crisis I was dumped. It was a large ng climb getting back on medication that takes six to eight weeks to reach a therapeutic level. This was arrogant, dangerous, and caused significant emotional trauma. I am the daughter of a psychologist, the sister of a psychiatric nurse, and majored in psych in college. I've worked in many psychiatric settings. I have never felt so betrayed and chastised. He said that he NEVER fails so it had to be me. I'm defiantly not better off for having crossed paths with him. However, if yours is strictly phobia related then maybe he's your guy.
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