The mask of the mental health professional

My wife does not like it at all when I go all “psych” on her so I have a strong motivation to put this mask away at home, since she is a passionate woman... This mask is, I believe, a common defensive mechanism for us working in this field. I tend to want to pathologize my environment when it “does not behave” and over-intellectualize behavior that upsets me. This of course can be at times extremely useful, but also sometimes a blatant misuse of my professional authority and knowledge. My professional and educational preparation can thus become a weapon of sorts, an instrument of harm that I use against the people around me. Normalizing my own behavior in an authoritative manner and pathologizing theirs.

I feel myself often resisting the urge of labeling friends and family thus and having to really focus to remember who they are, holistically speaking. The same is true for many of my patients also, when I think about it.

I do feel that my psych preparation and experience often is helpful in my personal life, but in a more unofficial and informal capacity.

Mainly I feel that it gives me insight, especially to deal with me. After all, I am my biggest problem.