Session 7 - It's all about Practitioners

Psychologists specialize in the way the mind works and how it influences behaviour. They study people, how they think and feel, how they act, react and interact, then bring psychological theory and practice to bear on solving problems or bringing about improvements for individuals, groups or organisations. Psychologists deal with a wide range of practical problems including easing the effects of divorce on children, minimizing accidents, helping people overcome stress or depression, and ensuring the reliability of eye-witness testimony in court. Psychology is a fascinating and wide-ranging speciality, and its practitioners have a valuable contribution to make to all areas of life.
• Counseling Psychologists work collaboratively with people affected by a wide range of human problems. These include helping people manage difficult life events such as bereavement, difficult past and present relationships and working with mental health problems and disease. Counseling psychologists often work in hospitals and clinics, or in private practice or commercial organisations.
• Forensic Psychologists apply psychological theory to criminal investigation, understanding problems associated with criminal behaviour, and the treatment of criminals. Their work may include implementing treatment programmes, modifying offender behaviour, crime analysis and giving expert evidence in court. They usually work in prisons, rehabilitation units or with the police.
• Health Psychologists work in a relatively new and rapidly evolving field, using psychological principles to promote changes in people’s attitudes, behaviour and thinking about health, illness and healthcare. They work in hospitals, clinics, or with health authorities and health research departments.

Psychoanalysis is a family of psychological theories and methods based on the pioneering work of Sigmund Freud. As a technique of psychotherapy psychoanalysis seeks to elucidate connections among unconscious components of patients' mental processes. The analyst's goal is to help liberate the analysand from unexamined or unconscious barriers of transference and resistance - that is, past patterns of relatedness that are no longer serviceable or that inhibit freedom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoanalyst
Psychoanalysts try to reach the root of the problem, the process may take years in some cases. There is something called past-life therapy too which is based on solving your problems/fears etc by finding out whether they could be related to something in your past life. Controversy rages both within and without the psychoanalytic community over whether psychoanalysis is a science, a pseudoscience, or something else altogether.

Orthodentist – The guys people like minus and i need to go to get their bunny teeth straightened. Visit this link to see which other celebrities had braces. You'll be impressed by the list : http://www.caribbeansmiles.com/celebrity_smiles.htm

Optometrist or (ophthalmic) optician is someone who opts to organize online obese octopus meets to overthrow an onerous oligarchy.
Oafs, what the hell are you reading? Haven’t we been repeating this in previous sessions that an optometrist measures your vision and tells you whether your glasses are as thin as air or as thick as Paresh Rawal's glasses…??

Optician – Supplies the lenses according to the specifications of the Optometrist or Ophthalmologist. But I think these days opticians are people who supply you with all kinds of fancy frames to suit your face. Though I haven’t found one yet that can suit my face. I fail to understand why people laugh everytime I try a pair. I think I look unbelievably studious. Guys, please forgive me, I’m, really sleepy while writing all this.

Osteopath – Ever heard this word? Well at least I hadn’t.
As is very well explained in this link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopath / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopathy
Osteopathy was founded by Andrew Taylor Still, who was an Army doctor. ‘The horrors of battlefield injury and the subsequent death of his wife and several children from infectious diseases left him totally disillusioned with the traditional practice of medicine. Still perceived the medical practices of his day to be ineffective, even barbaric.’ This led him to adopt a philosophy was based on the understanding of the integration between body, mind and spirit, the interrelatedness of structure and function, and the ability of the body to heal itself when mechanically sound.
He invented the name "osteopathy" by blending two Greek roots "osteon-" for bone and "-pathos" for suffering in order to communiciate his theory that disease and physiologic dysfunction were etiologically grounded in a disordered musculoskeletal system.

Enough for this place and for the practitioners who treat people druglessly, I think u gotta visit those links for more, it’s interesting.

From bones to joints, from Blood vessels to Articulation…

Chiropractic is another complementary and alternative health care profession which aims to diagnose, treat, and prevent mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system and their effects on the nervous system and general health. Chiropractors believe misalignments, or subluxations of the spine interfere with the body's self-regulating mechanisms, primarily the nervous system. A chiropractor may specialize in treating low back problems or sports injuries, or may combine chiropractic with manipulation of the extremities, physiotherapy, nutrition, or exercises to increase spinal strength or improve overall health.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractor

Manas can very well explain the next one - A Chiropodist. He treats minor foot ailments(I mean a Chiropodist, not Manas). Translated literally, chiropody refers to medicine of the "hand and foot", but today chiropody is merely another name for podiatric medicine & surgery. Manas has made multiple trips to a Chiropodist ever since our last year in college, and continues to do so, everytime he needs to take a break from work. I preferred a pehelwanic chiropodist when I was in a similar situation in first year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropodist

Moving on to some non-medical practitioners :

A Graphologist is someone who analysis handwriting to determine character, personality traits etc. And it’s not all non-sense. I had a friend whose sis was a Graphologist, and she was superb at analyzing people’s handwriting, we used to be fascinated by how effortlessly she would tell about people just by looking at their notebooks. A Graphologist may also be one who verifies authenticity of signatures, written docs etc.

A Gerontologist deals with economic, sexual, social, retirement and other problems of the elderly. Gerontology is the study of the elderly, and of the aging process itself. It is to be distinguished from geriatrics, which is the study of the diseases of the elderly. Gerontology covers the social, psychological and biological aspects of aging.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerontologist