Psychiatric patients always have someone (or a whole chorus of someones) telling them what they’re supposed to do. In my own experience, I had discovered that it was much more effective to be asked what I’d like, e.g., “If you could arrange things your way, what would that look like and how do you think we could help you get there?” Indeed, the young woman accepted that she did need treatment—she just wanted, and was entitled to have, a voice in the decision-making about where and how that treatment would happen. It was my job to help her get that. And as empathetic as I felt toward her, I
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