Since the beginning of time, man has tried to predict the
future. Wise men studied the stars to determine
the best time to plant crops. Soothsayers
warned kings of events that could threaten their empires. Today, ecologists predict a catastrophic
global warming of our planet. The tools
of the trade run the gamut from delicate scientific measurements of carbon in ice
cores to chicken entrails.
Most licensed professionals sell knowledge of the future
to their clients, patients, and consumers.
Your attorney draws up contracts that he predicts will protect you. Your physician predicts the course of your
illness. The pharmacist tells you how
certain drugs will affect your mind and body.
Psychologists administer tests, conduct interviews, and perform assessments
in order to predict human behavior.
In my experience, the best predictor of future behavior is
past behavior. This is a lesson a couple
of psychologists learned the hard way.
A young woman began therapy with Dr. Land in 1993. The doctor determined that her patient suffered
from alcoholism, family discord, boundary issues, depression, post-traumatic
stress disorder, gender issues, fits of violence, and repercussions from sexual
abuse. Dr. Land admitted her patient to
a hospital. Within one week of the
patient’s discharge, Dr. Land terminated her doctor/patient relationship with
the patient and began an affair with her.
The affair was short-lived. Dr.
Land stated that there were problems with the patient’s drinking, fits of
violence and other emotional issues.
Sound familiar? The psychology
board revoked Dr. Land’s license because she violated the ethical prohibition
on having sex with a client or former client.
In another case, a psychologist treated a patient who had
a history of severe difficulties in employment relationships. Confident that 18 months of therapy had cured
his patient of these problems, the doctor released her from his care and hired
her to work as his office manager. Surprisingly
the employer-employee relationship didn’t quite work out. One morning, shortly after she reported for
work, the doctor fired the former patient but asked her to finish out the
day. Mid-afternoon, the doctor heard a
noise and, turning around, saw this lady lunging at him with a pair of
scissors. Fortunately, he was able to
wrestle the scissors away from her and escape injury.
With 20/20 hindsight, we can identify numerous poor
choices that the doctor made. First, by
hiring someone with a documented history of problems on the job, he ignored the
patient’s past behavior. Second, he
hired a patient immediately after terminating her therapy. Doing so violated ethical prohibitions of
entering into dual relationships with patients and former patients. Third, he did not escort the patient away
from the office when he fired her. This
gave a very angry former employee the opportunity to cause irreparable damage
at work.
Predictably, the patient filed a complaint with the state
Psychology Board. She maintained that
she wasn’t trying to hurt the doctor with the scissors. She said she noticed that he was talking on a
phone that didn’t work. To resolve the
issue, she was going to cut the phone cord.
She testified, “I guess he thought I was going to stab him . . . we got
into a little altercation. He nearly
broke my arm.” She further stated that
she was angry because everyone in the office was conspiring against her to
“drive me insane to the point where I would be mentally unable to testify
against them.”
The Psychology Board found the patient to be a credible
witness and, based on her testimony, it suspended the doctor’s license for
three years. The doctor appealed the
ruling.
Fortunately, for the doctor, the court did not agree with
the Board’s psychological assessment of its key witness. After the bailiff cleared the courtroom of
all sharp objects, the court held that former patient was not credible. It reversed the Board’s order.
Sometimes, we have to make important split-second
decisions about a person. This year, I
was in a fairly serious car accident. I
hit my head in the wreck, was stunned, and had a hard time thinking. As my car filled with smoke, I began to have
trouble breathing. I heard someone
pounding on the passenger side door. The man managed to get the door open and
then tried to pull me out of the car. My
initial instinct was to push him away and to stay in the car. I didn’t know this man. I was injured. But then, I saw that he was wearing a cross
on a chain around his neck.
With his help, I got out of the car without further
injury. As I sat in his car waiting for
the Highway Patrol, I saw devotional books on the seat. He was a seminary student. Finally, I could calm down. He stayed with me until help arrived.
That morning, when this man woke up, he decided to wear a
cross around his neck. That was the only
“past behavior” that I could assess at the time when I had to decide whether to
trust this stranger. My decision was a
good one. I only wish that I could have
gotten his name before the ambulance arrived.
I would like to be able to thank him.
And to you dear reader, Happy Thanksgiving.
