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I am interested in becoming a mental health practitoner. Any suggestions on what makes a good provider?

Issue
I am working on my degree to be a psychiatric practitoner, which includes dispensing drugs if needed. What advice would you give someone in this position as a consumer?

Best Tip

As a long term consumer of the public mental health system & having had experience with a multitude of psychiatrists, I offer the following:
1) Learn to be a good listener.
2) Learn to read between the lines.
3) Just because your superiors are insensitive, self obsessed number crunchers, don't fall into the same trap.
4) Don't let the drug companies money rule your diagnosies.
5) Listen to the nurses, mental health workers, social workers (you know, people on the front line that spend more time with consumers than you can).
6) Don't rush to find an answer. Remember, everyone is different.
7) Always, always do followup on you patients.
And finally, never forget to care. Once you've lost that you're no good to any of us, or to yourself.

PS to Stuart: If this place is full of 12yr olds, what is someone your age doing here? Source(s): 25yrs personal experience.

Others
Lotsa drugs. Whatever your patient says makes them feel good, give it to them! :}
First, let me understand...you want to be the health care provider, not the patient, right?

Strongest advice I can give you toward this end: consider getting medical and educational advice from someone with professional credentials, not a bunch of 12 year olds on a public website.
I believe you have to patient, kind hearted, excellent listener, and relatively easy going. Good Luck with your career and remember to listen to all not just what and when ou want to.
One thing I can tel you.. don't ever loose your humility or compassion..
be a good listener. focus on the patient when they are talking and give them your complete attention. you will need to have good communication skills and learn to be an active listener - giving answers like 'uh huh' and 'yea' isnt going to make the person think that you are truly listening to them. you will also need to be very patient - people with mental problems can be very emotionally draining, and can really make you feel bad at times. so you need to just be patient with them. you will also need to learn how to not absorb their problems, especially with people with certain mental disorders, such as bipolar. some mental health practitioners absorb their patients' problems as their own and end up burned out or depressed themselves. so while it is good to be attached to your patients and compassionate towards their problems, you need to find the fine line between becoming TOO involved and just becoming involved enough to make your patients know you care.