What happens at the required therapist session?

gingerbug · September 4, 2007

My insurance requires one. I am curious what they are looking for with these. I have read that some only took an hour or so and some whe had to clear out 4 hours of their day. What is it the insurance company looking for that they want you to sit through a 4 hour therapist session???

mermaidpuppy · September 4, 2007

Mine only took about 45min or so. I think the key is to go to someone who the surgeon's office recommends. They have done it before and know what they are looking for. He just asked me basically if I understood the procedure and the lifestyle changes I will have to make. He had me basically explain it to him and the changes. Asked what would be the hardest for me. What kind of exercise I will have to do etc. Basically to see if I understood it wasen't a quick fix and knew all the work that went into making it successful. I also had to do a computer test that asked tons of questions to see if you were depressed, had sucidal thoughts, etc... Just a basic mental health quesionaire. It was easy and kind of interesting.

colesd1 · September 4, 2007

I had two appointments to complete mine. The first, which I just did in the reception area, was just taking the test which was like 525 questions about you and your thoughts. Making sure you are not suicidal or depressed, that took me about 3 hours. Then I came back to actually meet with the doctor and that was about a 45 minute appointment. She just went over the results of my test and asked me about the surgery, why I am making the decision to have it, do I understand the risks and the changes I will have to make. It was pretty painless so don't worry about it.

Pattypoo1 · September 4, 2007

I had to complete a written questionaire only about 20 questions. Then I had to complete a computer questionaire of 165 questions. The I had to talk with the guy. He told me 4 things and asked me to remember them, then asked later what they were. He pointed to his watch and his pen and asked me what they were. He asked me to repeat a sentence. He asked what the capital of Italy was, and who is the president od USA and who was president before him. At this point I thought he was the crazy one. Took about an hour.

I asked what they are looking for, the lady in the front said that the surgeon just wants to make sure that you are willing to comply with the lifetstyle changes and you are able to understand what it entails. They want to make sure you can follow directions.

By thinking about the questions they were asking, obviously they want to make sure that you are not suicidal or depressed.

The computer questions were all T/F. One of the questions was, " I have been on the cover of several magazines" I can't figure out what that was for...Oh he asked me if I saw things or heard things that other people didn't, so I guess this to to see if you are paranoid/schizo.

Anyway, it was great fun as I laughed my ass off at about 4 of the questions.

Cerrin · September 4, 2007

Damn the capital of Italy......"I"?

what if I have been on magazines?!

Man I am doomed...lol

I actualy have all my apointments schuled for the 17th and the 18th of this month. I am SO excited!

socaldixiegal · September 4, 2007

I just got back from mine! I had a bunch of tests to complete ahead of time, but we didn't actually go through any of them. Instead we spent about an hour talking about my life, weight and what I knew about the surgery.

She asked if I was aware of the possible complications, how much I knew about life after lap-band.

Lots of questions about family history, current stresses, past attempts to lose weight, why I wanted the surgery, why now, etc. Also wanted to know what about after concerned me the most (required changes, etc)

All in all it was interesting.