Repress the memories for as long as you possibly can, dear child.
:)
Posted on 11/14/2004 9:02:49 AM PST by the_gospel_of_thomas
First post-therapy Kerry supporter speaks out publicly
Published Sunday, November 14, 2004 at 1:00 am by Sean Salai
A post-therapy John Kerry supporter spoke out about her trauma treatment for the first time this weekend, saying Florida psychologist Douglas Schooler took her from the depths of despair over President Bush’s victory to a new lease on life.
Forty-four year old Karen of Boca Raton, a divorced mother of one who didn’t want her last name in print, called the trauma specialist’s intensive election therapy “profoundly effective” and described his hypnosis technique as “a healing process.”
“I wasn’t sleeping,” Karen told the Boca Raton News in an interview. “I was very devastated and very astonished that people would re-elect this president. I was moody about the war and economic issues. I felt very unsettled and fearful. I thought, ‘Oh no, what will happen for four years?’”
Karen, whose medical insurance covers the treatment, said she approached Schooler last week after finding herself unable to function publicly due to President Bush’s re-election.
“Dr. Schooler absolutely understood the pain this election caused me and he opened my mind to a new point of view,” Karen said. “You’re relaxed, he talks to you and you just come out of it feeling more positive and renewed. It took one session. He did some relaxation techniques and probably did some things I didn’t even realize.”
A Schooler client for seven years, dating back to her divorce, Karen said the doctor helped her realize it had been unhealthy for her to expect Kerry to win. “If I’d had time, I would have volunteered for Kerry, but I work full-time,” Karen said. “I was so invested emotionally, watching the debates, and was very disturbed whenever I heard a Marine has been killed. I thought Bush’s actions were war crimes. But I’m sleeping again since the therapy and have felt better ever since. I don’t know what will happen now, but I’m going to take it day by day and see what happens.” The Boca Raton News reported last week that more than 45 South Florida Kerry supporters sought psychological help after the Democratic candidate conceded to Bush on Nov. 3.
That number, including 20 patients treated by Schooler, had risen to more than 50 by the weekend.
“One woman I treated the other day said the election triggered other issues in her life,” Schooler said. “Stuff she had been working on for a long time became worse. That’s pretty common in trauma cases: A small thing like an election triggers longstanding mental problems.”
In addition to Schooler’s one-shot hypnotherapy, more than 30 people have called the non-profit American Health Association at 561-361-9091 to sign up for free support group therapy.
Executive Director Rob Gordon said Friday that AHA’s first election support group is scheduled for after Thanksgiving. The Boca-based charity, which has more than 500 professional and non-professional volunteers in Palm Beach and Broward counties, is offering the free sessions through the end of the year.
“I’ve been talking to people and coaching them on the phone,” Gordon said. “Most are older than 50 and their mental issues stem from the 2000 election.”
Gordon said no one outside Florida had contacted AHA about treatment for the new form of trauma, which his organization has dubbed Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST).
“These unresolved issues from four years ago seem worst in Palm Beach County because this is where the pregnant chad scandal happened,” he said. “People here still think Bush was appointed, not elected. But I’m sure psychologists in California and maybe New York are also organizing group therapy sessions.”
Since the Boca News broke the election therapy story on Monday, Gordon said he had been flooded by calls from Republicans who don’t take the trauma seriously. However, he said he received a phone call Friday afternoon from FOX News commentator Bill O’Reilly and expects to defend his diagnosis on The O’Reilly Factor next week.
A psychologist at the Boca-based Center for Group Counseling, whose spokeswoman last Monday was referring depressed Kerry voters to the Democratic National Committee, said he thinks AHA and Schooler are unethically using the Kerry supporters’ misery for self-promotion.
“The word ‘trauma’ is overused and I haven’t seen Kerry voters traumatized according to the existing definition,” said William A. Weitz, adult program manager. “Certainly we’ve had people discussing their responses to the election at regular support group meetings, but the idea you would use hypnosis on them doesn’t make sense to me.”
Boca Mayor Steven L. Abrams, a Republican, said post-election therapy is “more of the same” in a city where people already spend tens of thousands of dollars a pop on plastic surgeons, beauticians and matchmakers. “I do think it’s silly,” Abrams said.
“I also think these front-page conspiracy theories are silly. People are saying the election was fixed in Democratic counties that voted for Bush. But these are, like, the rural Democratic counties that have consistently cast tons of votes for Republican presidential candidates. That’s why they call them ‘Dixiecrats.’ One of the counties is literally Dixie County.”
Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@bocanews.com or 561-893-6427.
Watch for the phrase: Post Election Selection Trauma
Her medical insurance covers this bulls##t.Wonder why all our rates go through the roof.
Like duh!
This is a joke, isn't it? Don't tell me it's not a joke.
Was your physical and mental reaction worse or not as bad, on the morning of September 11th as you saw Americans jumping to their deaths out of skyscrapers on fire?
I'd love to ask these crybabies that one question. Of course, upon administering truth serum, you would see they were MUCH more distraught at a BUSH/RED STATE VICTORY, than 3,000 AMERICAN SOULS KILLED ON A TUESDAY MORNING.
How adequate and appropriate: P.E.S.T.
In other words, you and I help pay that bill through premiums.
Babies. Buck up you soft-spined whiners.
longstanding mental problems
...err, would that be liberalism?
oh my...
Someone needs to infiltrate one of these group sessions and give us a report.
Repress the memories for as long as you possibly can, dear child.
:)
Say, doc, do you think you could try that hypnotherapy over at DU? They're still unable to function as normal human beings.
"You're getting very sleepy. You're on a white fluffy cloud. It is unhealthy to ever elect a Democrat to office anywhere. You're relaxed and happy. Liberals are bad. Bad, bad, bad. White fluffy clouds. Conservatives are good, good, good. Now, when I snap my fingers you'll wake up and be a good, productive, patriotic, upstanding citizen of this country you love. One, two, ...."
Just wait 'til the Senate confirms John Ashcroft as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
What a concept! Post-Election-Selection-Syndrome (PEST). I could be due pain and suffering going back to and through the Clinton years.
Patient: Thanks, I needed that.
I think this therapy is a good thing. Matter of fact, Dr Schooler just might be a republican.
He takes raving pscycho democrats and makes them calm and relaxed so they can now go back into society feeling more positive and renewed.
Heck, I know that I was calm, relaxed and postively renewed after the election.
The doc can do all this and make a buck, hey, more power to him.
"A Schooler client for seven years..."
That Dr. Schooler is either one lousy therapist, or the best scammer to come down the pike in a while.
She's been his patient for SEVEN YEARS already? And on the taxpayers dime? Grrrrrr!
Let's hope this turns out to be a life-long condition for these folks!
Conservatives on the other hand are using them for cheap laughs and since laughter is the best medicine we're going to end up being the healthiest bunch on the planet
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