This is the part that the wealthy hate about most people being satisfied with what they have. If we strive for more then they can threaten us with it, but if we don’t care they have nothing to steal nor to threaten.
Hound sports that don’t involve chasing and killing wild animals
Drag Hunting
Drag hunting is very similar to fox hunting in most aspects, except the the dogs follow an artificial trail laid down before the hunt begins. The hounds never follow an animal-based scent nor are they trained or encouraged to hunt live animals. Drag hunting combines all the best bits of fox hunting; riding across country, watching the hounds work and bringing together rural communities, but without the cruel and (in the UK) illegal aspects.
Drag hunting is a sport that’s popular in many countries, including much of Europe, the United States and Australia.
(Note: drag hunting is not the same as trail hunting. Trail hunting was invented in the UK after the 2004 hunting ban. In trail hunting hounds either follow a fox-based scent to encourage them to still hunt live foxes, or is used as a cover for illegal hunting where no trails are laid at all.)
Photo by John Harwood || CC BY 2.0
Hound Trailing
Hound trailing or hound racing, is a sport where the dogs race across country while following an artificially laid scent trail. Unlike drag hunting, the dogs are not followed on horseback but work independently while onlookers watch from a distance. Hound trailing started in the 1700s as a way for fox hunters to test the speed and stamina of their hounds, but these days is a sport in it’s own right. Specially bred trail hounds are typically used. These dogs were bred from fellhound stock to be more athletic, with an almost whippet-like build.
Hound trailing is exclusively found in the UK, mostly being practiced in the English countries of Cumbria and Yorkshire, the Scottish Boarders and parts of Ireland. The racing season is between April to October and races typically last around 30 minutes.
Photo by Alan Sawyer || CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Hunting The Clean Boot
This type of hunting doesn’t use a scent trail at all, but instead the hounds follow a live human runner. Working-type bloodhounds are mainly used for this sport, although other hounds can be trained for it. Mounted riders follow the hounds and when the human runner is finally ‘caught’ they’ll often get a friendly and enthusiastic greeting from the hounds.
I believe this sport is mostly practiced in the UK.
Photo by Mark Robinson || CC BY-NC 2.0
c... centipede dragon? millipede dragon?! :v
lil guys
Fire tornado soap bubble
This is that eldritch shit. Still here for it, though.
I wanna walk around at night in Victorian London with this as my lantern
Bearded Dragons, Sand, and You
One of the most common pieces of advice new bearded dragon owners hear from reptiblr people is “don’t keep your beardies on sand!” This is immediately followed with warnings about impaction and infection and the potential for all sorts of nastiness and death- and those are absolutely true.
But then you maybe see pictures like this and go “uh… that’s… that’s sand.”
And yes, yes it is sand. But it’s not the kind of sand that comes out of a bag from the pet store! But what makes it different? Why can bearded dragons thrive on this sand and not that sand?
I’ll give you a little summary now in case you don’t want to read the whole thing. Basically, Australian sand is more compact and has a heavy clay component and there’s damp soil for burrows available under the outer layers. This means that the soil is less dusty and less likely to cause impaction, especially because the humidity in the burrows means that the beardie is less likely to be dehydrated.
If you’d like to know why the sand is this way, there’s a little geology involved. So let’s talk a little bit about how Australian sand dunes work! The sand dunes in places like the Simpson Desert- in the central/arid zone- formed about 20,000 years ago. Once a sand dune has formed, any rain soaks in and the dune has a damp inner core. Below the sand there’s a clay swale- a layer of clay that holds water. These dunes are stable and actually hold burrows really well! On top of the dunes, plants like saltbush and other scrubby, small things colonize the more unstable areas, holding the dunes in place and keeping the soil/sand from getting too dusty.
What that means is that the sand’s actually quite damp and compact past the top layer and you can get beardies living quite happily in dugout burrows like this!
Loose, blowing sand sometimes ends up on the road, but it’s not the dominant soil type in the dunes where they live. This is a picture from the Rainbow Valley Reserve in Alice Springs, where that first pic was taken- see how the natural soil’s tamped down? This is a clay pan, which is one of the most common soil types in the Australian outback.
Furthermore, Australian soil is different from the soil anywhere else in the world. There’s a couple of reasons for this. Australia has no large native herbivores. This plays a huge part in soil development elsewhere- native hoofstock overturns the soil with grazing. In the grand scheme of things, this has meant that Australia’s soil formation has been very different from other continents’ soil formation. Also important is that Australia had no glacial period. On other continents, glaciers moved a lot of the soil around, stripping regions down to their deeper layers or bedrock, and forcing new soil formation processes. This created loamy, loose topsoils. That didn’t happen in Australia- the soil formation process was much slower and as a result, the soil there is a lot higher in clay. Sand particles in the desert are relatively large and solid and compact, and that compaction is a huge part of what makes it possible to hold burrows. Also, the inner dampness of the clay means that the humidity in those burrows is relatively high.
Now, compare that to the sand you get at the pet store. The grains are fine and the sand is super dusty- and there’s no clay in it! Also, when sand is usually put down in a bearded dragon cage, it’s in a fairly thin layer. It’s not deep enough to allow burrowing or to hold any humidity. Check it out- here’s a bearded dragon cage with sand in it.
Let’s look at that picture of the burrow again.
See how deep that is and how different it is from the sort of sand provided in the cage? The sand dunes in Australia are part of the natural ecosystem and are more than just pure sand. They’re quite complicated compared to the stuff you can buy at the pet store!
Works cited:
“Sand Dunes.” Australian National Botanic Gardens/Australian National Herbarium, 2012. Available online: http://www.anbg.gov.au/photo/vegetation/sand-dunes.html
“The Soils of Australia.” Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996 (updated 2012). Available online: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article801966
I’m not sure these additions will be helpful or not, but here are some simple examples of how these specific soils differ in pet situations.
Sand (real sand, not Calci-Sand, which has no place in any pet keeping situation) from the pet store, play sand, and construction sand, unless specified otherwise (such as aragonite), is silica based.
Natural silica sand is crystalline quartz or volcanic glass that has been worked by weather and other processes into tiny granules. The granules are generally rounded, whether rough or smooth. This means they roll and slide on each other a great deal.
Geologically, clay, such as that in the montmorillonite containing soils in parts of Australia and around the world, is a very fine-grained material composed of clay minerals – hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates. The particle size is particularly important to the identification of clay (< 0.002mm). It is also produced by weathering – in this case from granite.
The shape of these minerals is extremely fine flat planes rather than round granules. When moisture is introduced they are “plastic” (able to take and retain form).
As a safety note, if decomposed granite or clay gets dry it can still be dusty, and as it contains silica, take care not to breathe the dust (silicosis is caused by breathing dust, and the effects are cumulative over a lifetime; once you’ve breathed silica you can’t unbreathe it).
In Australia many animals seek the slightly moister earth beneath the surface. Even kangaroos dig pits to lie in. It is important to note that clay soils retain moisture for a long time (which is why if you have clay soil in a garden it can be compacted and have poor drainage!). Even in an arid environment like the deserts of Australia, there is moisture in the ground.
When pure silica sand is wet enough to hold its shape (such as making sand castles, or in hermit crab enclosures) the humidity would be high in the enclosure. Sand holds together in these conditions basically due to the water on the outside of the grains creation surface tension, called interstitial liquid bridges. This is why it must be saturated to hold its shape. Due to the particle size and material, the surface area will promote higher evaporation as well. So this is not appropriate for desert animals either, but works well for creatures like gill-breathing crabs that live on water-drenched beaches.
In the natural soil of Australia (and elsewhere), it is not pure clay, but a mixture of clay, organic matter (decomposed plants and animals, animal waste, microbes, mycelium, root exudate, etc. are all important to soil structure!), sand, silt, and other minerals. Pure clay or pure decomposed granite is not a good substrate either. This is why it is very important to research thoroughly before going forward with naturalistic arid bioactive vivariums or any enclosure with loose substrate, including the local topsoil and other ingredients available in each situation.
AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! I have looked for this information for SO LONG!
Here you go. Please, read this.
Dragonair (kofi request)
An arowana
colored inks and watercolor on black mat-board
Some words to use when writing things:
- winking
- clenching
- pulsing
- fluttering
- contracting
- twitching
- sucking
- quivering
- pulsating
- throbbing
- beating
- thumping
- thudding
- pounding
- humming
- palpitate
- vibrate
- grinding
- crushing
- hammering
- lashing
- knocking
- driving
- thrusting
- pushing
- force
- injecting
- filling
- dilate
- stretching
- lingering
- expanding
- bouncing
- reaming
- elongate
- enlarge
- unfolding
- yielding
- sternly
- firmly
- tightly
- harshly
- thoroughly
- consistently
- precision
- accuracy
- carefully
- demanding
- strictly
- restriction
- meticulously
- scrupulously
- rigorously
- rim
- edge
- lip
- circle
- band
- encircling
- enclosing
- surrounding
- piercing
- curl
- lock
- twist
- coil
- spiral
- whorl
- dip
- wet
- soak
- madly
- wildly
- noisily
- rowdily
- rambunctiously
- decadent
- degenerate
- immoral
- indulgent
- accept
- take
- invite
- nook
- indentation
- niche
- depression
- indent
- depress
- delay
- tossing
- writhing
- flailing
- squirming
- rolling
- wriggling
- wiggling
- thrashing
- struggling
- grappling
- striving
- straining
Appetite - craving, demand, gluttony, greed, hunger, inclination, insatiable, longing, lust, passion, ravenousness, relish, taste, thirst, urge, voracity, weakness, willingness, yearning, ardor, dedication, desire, devotion, enthusiasm, excitement, fervor, horny, intensity, keenness, wholeheartedness, zeal
Arouse - agitate, awaken, electrify, enliven, excite, entice, foment, goad, incite, inflame, instigate, kindle, provoke, rally, rouse, spark, stimulate, stir, thrill, waken, warm, whet, attract, charm, coax, fire up, fuel, heat up, lure, produce, stir up, tantalize, tease, tempt, thrum, torment, wind up, work up
Assault - attack, advancing, aggressive, assailing, charging, incursion, inundated, invasion, offensive, onset, onslaught, overwhelmed, ruinous, tempestuous, strike, violation, ambush, assail, barrage, bombard, bombardment, crackdown, wound Beautiful - admirable, alluring, angelic, appealing, bewitching, charming, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enticing, exquisite, fascinating, gorgeous, graceful, grand, magnificent, marvelous, pleasing, radiant, ravishing, resplendent, splendid, stunning, sublime, attractive, beguiling, captivating, enchanting, engaging, enthralling, eye-catching, fetching, fine, fine-looking, good-looking, handsome, inviting, lovely, mesmeric, mesmerizing, pretty, rakish, refined, striking, tantalizing, tempting Brutal - atrocious, barbarous, bloodthirsty, callous, cruel, feral, ferocious, hard, harsh, heartless, inhuman, merciless, murderous, pitiless, remorseless, rough, rude, ruthless, savage, severe, terrible, unmerciful, vicious, bestial, brute, brutish, cold-blooded, fierce, gory, nasty, rancorous, sadistic, uncompromising, unfeeling, unforgiving, unpitying, violent, wild Burly – able-bodied, athletic, beefy, big, brawny, broad-shouldered, bulky, dense, enormous, great, hard, hardy, hearty, heavily built, heavy, hefty, huge, husky, immense, large, massive, muscular, mighty, outsized, oversized, powerful, powerfully built, prodigious, robust, solid, stalwart, stocky, stout, strapping, strong, strongly built, sturdy, thick, thickset, tough, well-built, well-developed Carnal - animalistic, bodily, impure, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, libidinous, licentious, lustful, physical, prurient, salacious, sensuous, voluptuous, vulgar, wanton, , coarse, crude, dirty, raunchy, rough, unclean Dangerous - alarming, critical, fatal, formidable, impending, malignant, menacing, mortal, nasty, perilous, precarious, pressing, serious, terrible, threatening, treacherous, urgent, vulnerable, wicked, acute, damaging, deadly, death-defying, deathly, destructive, detrimental, explosive, grave, harmful, hazardous, injurious, lethal, life-threatening, noxious, poisonous, risky, severe, terrifying, toxic, unsafe, unstable, venomous Dark - atrocious, corrupt, forbidding, foul, infernal, midnight, morbid, ominous, sinful, sinister, somber, threatening, twilight, vile, wicked, abject, alarming, appalling, baleful, bizarre, bleak, bloodcurdling, boding evil, chilling, cold, condemned, creepy, damned, daunting, demented, desolate, dire, dismal, disturbing, doomed, dour, dread, dreary, dusk, eerie, fear, fearsome, frightening, ghastly, ghostly, ghoulish, gloom, gloomy, grave, grim, grisly, gruesome, hair-raising, haunted, hideous, hopeless, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, horror, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, inhospitable, looming, lost, macabre, malice, malignant, menacing, murky, mysterious, night, panic, pessimistic, petrifying, scary, shadows, shadowy, shade, shady, shocking, soul-destroying, sour, spine-chilling, spine-tingling, strange, terrifying, uncanny, unearthly, unlucky, unnatural, unnerving, weird, wretched Delicious - enticing, exquisite, luscious, lush, rich, savory, sweet, tasty, tempting, appetizing, delectable, flavorsome, full of flavor, juicy, lip-smacking, mouth-watering, piquant, relish, ripe, salty, spicy, scrummy, scrumptious, succulent, tangy, tart, tasty, yummy, zesty Ecstasy - delectation, delirium, elation, euphoria, fervor, frenzy, joy, rapture, transport, bliss, excitement, happiness, heaven, high, paradise, rhapsody, thrill, blissful, delighted, elated, extremely happy, in raptures (of delight), in seventh heaven, jubilant, on cloud nine, overexcited, overjoyed, rapturous, thrilled Ecstatic - delirious, enraptured, euphoric, fervent, frenzied, joyous, transported, wild Erotic - amatory, amorous, aphrodisiac, carnal, earthy, erogenous, fervid, filthy, hot, impassioned, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, raw, romantic, rousing, salacious, seductive, sensual, sexual, spicy, steamy, stimulating, suggestive, titillating, voluptuous, tantalizing Gasp - catch of breath, choke, gulp, heave, inhale, pant, puff, snort, wheeze, huff, rasp, sharp intake of air, short of breath, struggle for breath, swallow, winded Heated - ardent, avid, excited, fervent, fervid, fierce, fiery, frenzied, furious, impassioned, intense, passionate, raging, scalding, scorched, stormy, tempestuous, vehement, violent, ablaze, aflame, all-consuming, blazing, blistering, burning, crazed, explosive, febrile, feverish, fired up, flaming, flushed, frantic, hot, hot-blooded, impatient, incensed, maddening, obsessed, possessed, randy, searing, sizzling, smoldering, sweltering, torrid, turbulent, volatile, worked up, zealous Hunger - appetite, ache, craving, gluttony, greed, longing, lust, mania, mouth-watering, ravenous, voracious, want, yearning, thirst Hungry - avid, carnivorous, covetous, craving, eager, greedy, hungered, rapacious, ravenous, starved, unsatisfied, voracious, avaricious, desirous, famished, grasping, insatiable, keen, longing, predatory, ravening, starving, thirsty, wanting Intense - forceful, severe, passionate, acute, agonizing, ardent, anxious, biting, bitter, burning, close, consuming, cutting, deep, eager, earnest, excessive, exquisite, extreme, fervent, fervid, fierce, forcible, great, harsh, impassioned, keen, marked, piercing, powerful, profound, severe, sharp, strong, vehement, violent, vivid, vigorous Liquid - damp, cream, creamy, dripping, ichorous, juicy, moist, luscious, melted, moist, pulpy, sappy, soaking, solvent, sopping, succulent, viscous, wet / aqueous, broth, elixir, extract, flux, juice, liquor, nectar, sap, sauce, secretion, solution, vitae, awash, moisture, boggy, dewy, drenched, drip, drop, droplet, drowning, flood, flooded, flowing, fountain, jewel, leaky, milky, overflowing, saturated, slick, slippery, soaked, sodden, soggy, stream, swamp, tear, teardrop, torrent, waterlogged, watery, weeping Lithe - agile, lean, pliant, slight, spare, sinewy, slender, supple, deft, fit, flexible, lanky, leggy, limber, lissom, lissome, nimble, sinuous, skinny, sleek, slender, slim, svelte, trim, thin, willowy, wiry Moan - beef, cry, gripe, grouse, grumble, lament, lamentation, plaint, sob, wail, whine, bemoan, bewail, carp, deplore, grieve, gripe, grouse, grumble, keen, lament, sigh, sob, wail, whine, mewl Moving - (exciting,) affecting, effective arousing, awakening, breathless, dynamic, eloquent, emotional, emotive, expressive, fecund, far-out, felt in gut, grabbed by, gripping, heartbreaking, heartrending, impelling, impressive, inspirational, meaningful, mind-bending, mind-blowing, motivating, persuasive, poignant, propelling, provoking, quickening, rallying, rousing, significant, stimulating, simulative, stirring, stunning, touching, awe-inspiring, energizing, exhilarating, fascinating, heart pounding, heart stopping, inspiring, riveting, thrilling Need - compulsion, demand, desperate, devoir, extremity, impatient longing, must, urge, urgency / desire, appetite, avid, burn, craving, eagerness, fascination, greed, hunger, insatiable, longing, lust, taste, thirst, voracious, want, yearning, ache, addiction, aspiration, desire, fever, fixation, hankering, hope, impulse, inclination, infatuation, itch, obsession, passion, pining, wish, yen Pain - ache, afflict, affliction, agony, agonize, anguish, bite, burn, chafe, distress, fever, grief, hurt, inflame, laceration, misery, pang, punish, sting, suffering, tenderness, throb, throe, torment, torture, smart Painful - aching, agonizing, arduous, awful, biting, burning, caustic, dire, distressing, dreadful, excruciating, extreme, grievous, inflamed, piercing, raw, sensitive, severe, sharp, tender, terrible, throbbing, tormenting, angry, bleeding, bloody, bruised, cutting, hurting, injured, irritated, prickly, skinned, smarting, sore, stinging, unbearable, uncomfortable, upsetting, wounded Perverted - aberrant, abnormal, corrupt, debased, debauched, defiling, depraved, deviant, monstrous, tainted, twisted, vicious, warped, wicked, abhorrent, base, decadent, degenerate, degrading, dirty, disgusting, dissipated, dissolute, distasteful, hedonistic, immodest, immoral, indecent, indulgent, licentious, nasty, profligate, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, shameful, shameless, sickening, sinful, smutty, sordid, unscrupulous, vile Pleasurable - charming, gratifying, luscious, satisfying, savory, agreeable, delicious, delightful, enjoyable, nice, pleasant, pleasing, soothing, succulent Pleasure - bliss, delight, gluttony, gratification, relish, satisfaction, thrill, adventure, amusement, buzz, contentment, delight, desire, ecstasy, enjoyment, excitement, fun, happiness, harmony, heaven, joy, kick, liking, paradise, seventh heaven Rapacious- avaricious, ferocious, furious, greedy, predatory, ravening, ravenous, savage, voracious, aggressive, gluttonous, grasping, insatiable, marauding, plundering Rapture - bliss, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, glory, gratification, passion, pleasure, floating, unbridled joy Rigid - adamant, austere, definite, determined, exact, firm, hard, rigorous, solid, stern, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, concrete, fixed, harsh, immovable, inflexible, obstinate, resolute, resolved, severe, steadfast, steady, stiff, strong, strict, stubborn, taut, tense, tight, tough, unbending, unchangeable, unwavering Sudden - abrupt, accelerated, acute, fast, flashing, fleeting, hasty, headlong, hurried, immediate, impetuous, impulsive, quick, quickening, rapid, rash, rushing, swift, brash, brisk, brusque, instant, instantaneous, out of the blue, reckless, rushed, sharp, spontaneous, urgent, without warning Thrust - (forward) advance, drive, forge, impetus, impulsion, lunge, momentum, onslaught, poke, pressure, prod, propulsion, punch, push, shove, power, proceed, progress, propel (push hard) assail, assault, attack, bear down, buck, drive, force, heave, impale, impel, jab, lunge, plunge, press, pound, prod, ram, shove, stab, transfix, urge, bang, burrow, cram, gouge, jam, pierce, punch, slam, spear, spike, stick Thunder-struck - amazed, astonished, aghast, astounded, awestruck, confounded, dazed, dazed, dismayed, overwhelmed, shocked, staggered, startled, stunned, gob-smacked, bewildered, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, horrified, incredulous, surprised, taken aback Torment - agony, anguish, hurt, misery, pain, punishment, suffering, afflict, angst, conflict, distress, grief, heartache, misfortune, nightmare, persecute, plague, sorrow, strife, tease, test, trial, tribulation, torture, turmoil, vex, woe Touch - (physical) - blow, brush, caress, collide, come together, contact, converge, crash, cuddle, embrace, feel, feel up, finger, fondle, frisk, glance, glide, graze, grope, handle, hit, hug, impact, join, junction, kiss, lick, line, manipulate, march, massage, meet, nudge, palm, partake, pat, paw, peck, pet, pinch, probe, push, reach, rub, scratch, skim, slide, smooth, strike, stroke, suck, sweep, tag, tap, taste, thumb, tickle, tip, touching, toy, bite, bump, burrow, buss, bury, circle, claw, clean, clutch, cover, creep, crush, cup, curl, delve, dig, drag, draw, ease, edge, fiddle with, flick, flit, fumble, grind, grip, grub, hold, huddle, knead, lap, lave, lay a hand on, maneuver, manhandle, mash, mold, muzzle, neck, nestle, nibble, nip, nuzzle, outline, play, polish, press, pull, rasp, ravish, ream, rim, run, scoop, scrabble, scrape, scrub, shave, shift, shunt, skate, slip, slither, smack, snake, snuggle, soothe, spank, splay, spread, squeeze, stretch, swipe, tangle, tease, thump, tongue, trace, trail, tunnel twiddle, twirl, twist, tug, work, wrap (mental) - communicate, examine, inspect, perception, scrutinize Wet - bathe, bleed, burst, cascade, course, cover, cream, damp, dampen, deluge, dip, douse, drench, dribble, drip, drizzle, drool, drop, drown, dunk, erupt, flood, flow, gush, immerse, issue, jet, leach, leak, moisten, ooze, overflow, permeate, plunge, pour, rain, rinse, run, salivate, saturate, secrete, seep, shower, shoot, slaver, slobber, slop, slosh, sluice, spill, soak, souse, spew, spit, splash, splatter, spout, spray, sprinkle, spurt, squirt, steep, stream, submerge, surge, swab, swamp, swill, swim, trickle, wash, water Wicked - abominable, amoral, atrocious, awful, base, barbarous, dangerous, debased, depraved, distressing, dreadful, evil, fearful, fiendish, fierce, foul, heartless, hazardous, heinous, immoral, indecent, intense, mean, nasty, naughty, nefarious, offensive, profane, scandalous, severe, shameful, shameless, sinful, terrible, unholy, vicious, vile, villainous, wayward, bad, criminal, cruel, deplorable, despicable, devious, ill-intentioned, impious, impish, iniquitous, irreverent, loathsome, Machiavellian, mad, malevolent, malicious, merciless, mischievous, monstrous, perverse, ruthless, spiteful, uncaring, unkind, unscrupulous, vindictive, virulent, wretched Writhe - agonize, bend, jerk, recoil, lurch, plunge, slither, squirm, struggle, suffer, thrash, thresh, twist, wiggle, wriggle, angle, arc, bow, buck, coil, contort, convulse, curl, curve, fidget, fight, flex, go into spasm, grind, heave, jiggle, jolt, kick, rear, reel, ripple, resist, roll, lash, lash out, screw up, shake, shift, slide, spasm, stir, strain, stretch, surge, swell, swivel, thrust, turn violently, tussle, twitch, undulate, warp, worm, wrench, wrestle, yank
//MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS - HERE IS THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF FINDING THAT RIGHT WORD!!!!!
I’ve reblogged it before, and I’ll reblog it again
How do you (“how does one”) shop for a therapist?
Can you call up a therapist and be like “hi, I’m therapist shopping”? Can you schedule an appointment with a therapist and then be like “actually I have some questions and I want to spend part of this appointment talking about your practice and whether or not it is garbage?”? Are you expected to phone interview/screen your therapists if you are shopping around for a therapist?
If you’re seeing one therapist are you supposed to/not supposed to tell them if you start seeing another therapist? Is it possible to cheat on your therapist?
I know this one! Or, at least, I know a way to do it, because I’ve done it.
1) When you call them up (or email them, which I prefer, because PHONE, EW), you ask if they’re taking new patients.
2) If they say yes, say something along the lines of “Great! I’m looking for a new therapist. Would it be possible for me to schedule an appointment so we can see whether we’d be a good fit for one another?”
- IF THEY SAY NO, THEY DON’T DO ‘INTERVIEWS’: they’re a dick, you don’t want them anyway, don’t bother to make an appointment
3) Assuming everything is a go, head over to the appointment. Bring your notebook, pen, and questions. Also, if possible, have a very brief rundown prepared of what you’d like to accomplish with your therapy (or even what you think your biggest issues are).
4) Introduce yourself. Reiterate that you want to see if the two of you would be a good fit, so [a nice little social laugh or smile here, while holding up your notebook] you brought questions.
- IF THEY DON’T LIKE THAT: they’re a dick, you don’t want them anyway, cut the meeting short
5) Give the rundown of what you want, what your issues are, whatever. See how they react.
- IF YOU FEEL WEIRD AT ALL ABOUT THEM: they may not be a dick, but if you don’t feel comfortable with them, then it’s going to be a shit therapeutic relationship
6) Ask your questions — about their therapeutic approach, why they entered the field, whether they feel comfortable working with *your* needs (I, for instance, specifically told my awesome therapist that I needed her to tell me absolutely nothing about her personal life or experiences — as much as possible, I needed a blank wall to bounce things off of. It’s been years now, and I THINK she’s seen at least a couple of episodes of Doctor Who. I THINK. That’s all I’ve got. It’s amazing).
- AGAIN, IF YOU FEEL WEIRD ABOUT THEM: go with your gut — your therapy is not the time or place to try and soldier through
7) By this point, you’ve probably hit the 45 minute mark, and you’ll know if you want to see this person again.
- IF YES, say that this was a really great meeting, and you’d like to set up a regular appointment.
- IF NO, say “Thanks for meeting with me.” If it wasn’t too terrible, feel free to add in whatever social niceties you want to lessen the blow (“I have appointments with a few other people, still, but thank you again!”), or you could just skedaddle as soon as possible.
- IF YOU’RE NOT SURE, go a bit heavier with the social nicety: “I still have appointments with a few other people, but I really enjoyed our meeting. I’ll let you know as soon as possible if I’d like to schedule another one. Thanks again!”
Regarding current therapists: If they’re toxic, get rid of ‘em before you even start interviewing others. Nobody needs that kind of garbage. Otherwise, you could keep seeing them while you interview others, and then the second you find one you like (and you schedule your next appointment), get rid of your current one. You don’t have to say why — just say that you’d like to cancel future appointments. Do it over email, if you want. If you like them, you can tell them that you just need something different now, but that you “really appreciate all the work we’ve done together” or something. If you don’t like them, just cancel. They don’t need to know jack.
- IF YOUR CURRENT THERAPIST SAYS SHIT ABOUT YOUR LEAVING — and I mean anything other than a positive hope for you in the future — then they were a dick and you were right to find someone else. Who needs passive-aggressive bullshit from a therapist? Nobody, that’s who.
So that’s my philosophy/style with regard to therapist shopping — I may be completely wrong, but it’s worked for me so far. Good luck!
This is really good advice
Yes, very good advice!
I needed this!! I recently moved and need to find a new therapist AND psych in my area. I was also super uncomfortable with my therapist, who literally said these words out loud from her mouth: “How do you know you’re pansexual if you’ve never had sex?”
nope bye
This is the advice I used when therapist shopping for my current therapist! I didn’t bring the notebook of questions cause there were a just a couple key things that I really wanted to make sure that were okay, but this gave me a good idea of what to look out for not related to the very specific stuff I was going to therapy for. But this guide is awesome.
I’ve never been so unafraid to see a therapist before I read this… I might give it a try.
Gryphon Designer
I was reminded earlier today of a project I worked on several years ago. I made this Designer as a way for people to get an idea of scale for the gryphons they were coming up with for stories, art, fursonas, or whatever else they were working on. And now that I remember it exists, I figure, why not share it! Below is an example of a typical Gryphon:
The stats are based on the real world characteristics and then translated to what a gryphon of this type might look like. You will notice however, that there are some things we can adjust! So lets make something special!
Now we’ve done it! We’ve made a Gryphon out of a pigeon and a raccoon and I Love him! We made him small, light, and quick which has adjusted his stats compared to the averages! I could show a dozen more, but I think I’ll leave the exploring to you! If you want to check it out, the google sheets is available here. Have fun creating!
KKSJJDEJSNXKWKWK
Billie is that you??????
A door that, when pulled, opens in the 'push' direction, inexplicably dragging the operator forward.