Steve Jobs and Choosing Well-being

I’ve never had a penchant for Apple products. That said, Steve Jobs did always fascinate me, primarily because he was an innovator. He inspired me to want to always ask how things could be better and to expect excellence from my colleagues. As I was sifting through the articles about Steve after the announcement of his death last night, one in particular caught my eye because of its relevance to the mental health field.

As a psychotherapist, it’s difficult to see clients elect courses of treatment that are not helpful or even harmful. Steve chose such a path when he elected to treat his cancer with diet and herbal therapies. Brian Dunning at Skeptoid argues that Steve could have lived much longer.

It is a tenant of all health fields that our clients have a right to choose the form and course of their treatment. And they should. Likewise, we providers ought to inform or clients about what the best evidence says about the various courses of treatment.

As a client, one of the most important question you can ask your doctor, therapist, or provider is: What do you think will work best for me? Even better, ask: What does the science show will be best? If your provider can’t answer these questions, then it’s time to get a second opinion.

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