"Dr.
Whitlow, you're my backup for emergency clinic this afternoon. I've got to have
some help from you!" Eleanor Bondurak, a social worker at the mental health
clinic, was red-faced with anger and frustration. It wasn't the first time she
had had difficulty working with this psychologist.
At the age of 50, Bema Whitlow had worked at nearly every
mental health clinic in the metropolitan area. She was well trained and highly
intelligent, and she read voraciously in her specialty. Those were the qualities
that over the years had landed her job after job. The qualities that kept her
moving from one job to another were known better to those who worked with her
than to those who hired her. She was famous among coworkers for being pompous
and self-centered.
"She said she wasn't going to take orders from me. And
her attitude said for her, 'You're nothing but a social worker."' Eleanor
was now reliving
the moment in a heated discussion with the clinical director. "She
said she'd talk to my boss or to you. I pointed out that neither of you was in
the building, at the time, and that the patient had brought in a gun in his
briefcase. So then she said I should 'write it up and submit it,' and she-would
'decide what action to take,' That's when I had you paged."
With the crisis over (the gun had been unloaded, the patient not dangerous), the clinical director had dropped in to chat with Dr. Whitlow. "Look, Berna, it's true that ordinarily the social worker usually sees the patient and does a write-up before the psychologist steps in. But this wasn't exactly an ordinary case! Especially in emergencies, the whole team has to act together."
I Bema Whitlow was tall, with a straight nose and jutting
chin that seemed to radiate authority. Her long hair was thick and blond. She
raised her chin a bit higher. "You hardly need to lecture me on the team
approach. I've been a leader in nearly every clinic in town. I'm a superb team
leader. You can ask anyone." As she spoke, she rubbed the gold rings that
encircled nearly every finger.
“But
being a team leader involves more than just giving, orders. It's also about gathering
information, building consensus, caring, about the feelings of oth-“
"Listen," she interrupted, "it's her 'ob to
work on my team. It's my job to provide the leadership and make the
decisions."
Source
DSM-IV Made Easy: The Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis. James Morrison.