Summer 2000, Vol. 8, No. 3.

AOOP Member Profile:
Silicon Psychiatry

By Linda Cunning, D.O., M.P.H.,
Madison, WI

Contrasting this AOOP member's practice with the profile in the last Bulletin, we can see that there are as many ways to practice occupational and organizational psychiatry as there are ways to practice general psychiatry. In this issue, we feature Philip Liu, M.D., whose practice in Northern California's Silicon Valley is as different from Minds@Work as chocolate is from raspberry.

Dr. Liu has been in practice in Mountain View, California, since 1981, after his residency at the University of Colorado, which he chose because of its strong program in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he wanted to return to the West Coast after his training. He settled in the Bay Area, where he has remained, observing first hand the dramatic changes brought about by the proliferation of computer-oriented businesses.

Most of Dr. Liu's practice is psychotherapy of individuals with and without medication management on a fee-for-service basis. For the past eight or nine years he has also spent about six hours a week in a consultant role as the Medical Director of Concern/Camino Counseling Services, an EAP and managed care provider for approximately 250 companies. Many of these companies are household names, among them Apple Computer, 3Com, and E-Bay. The total enrollment is approximately 250,000 employees and their families. As Concern's Medical Director, he is involved in utilization review activities and recruitment and training of clinicians, mostly psychologists and master's level therapists. Psychiatric services are not included in the EAP, but are part of Camino Counseling Services, which provides capitated mental health care services for the Camino Medical Group. Dr. Liu is at times referred difficult or complicated cases through Camino Counseling Services, his only managed care affiliation.

Dr. Liu's involvement with organizational psychiatry developed from an interest in group dynamics, including the unconscious aspects of mob behavior. He wanted to learn the names of people with similar interests in the Bay Area and attended an AOOP annual meeting. Through AOOP, he became acquainted with Gerry Kraines of the Levinson Institute who invited him to go to the Institute. There he was immersed in the ideas of Elliot Jacques, specifically the idea of the 'requisite organization,' one which, based on the vision of the CEO, develops culture, processes, and structures that entail accountancy at every level. Psychiatric organizational consultants can offer a significant contribution to this type of company by assisting in the determination of an individual's capabilities.

Dr. Liu sees his strength as understanding psychodynamics applied to executive coaching and consulting to family-owned business, rather than disability or substance abuse evaluations. He is a proponent of Tavistock-based organizational consulting. He is adept at psychiatric diagnosis and explaining psychiatric concepts to non-psychiatrists. He notes, 'the art is in being able to describe things in a way that business can understand,' and adds that an effective consultant to business needs to have an understanding of the financial issues facing business and should read the journals that business reads in order to speak the language and understand the concerns of business.

In recent years Dr. Liu has assisted Harry Levinson in seminars for organizational consultants, led small groups on leadership, and served as a consultant for small businesses with human resource questions, such as how to effectively deal with a problem executive and how to address issues related to exponential expansion. He has spoken to the industrial psychology component of the American Psychological Association on executive coaching from a psychodynamic perspective. In his capacity as an executive coach he has been impressed by the resilience, adaptability, and 'ego-capacity' of the people with whom he has worked. He sees them as generally quick learners who evolve in their response to stress, and he does not underestimate the stress of business, saying, 'It's a snake pit out there.'

A unique aspect of Dr. Liu's work may be related to his location in Silicon Valley—he works with a number of people who have developed sudden wealth. He has found that the 'Gold Rush mentality of Silicon Valley leaves people confused' about the meaning of their lives and the wealth they have acquired. He sees them as often unprepared for the decisions they need to make about money once they have achieved financial success in the dotcom or silicon chip world. He is well aware of the emotional toll of the fast-paced life and high cost of living in the region.

Dr. Liu sees marketing ourselves as one of the professional problems of psychiatrists because we have found it hard to enter an assertive marketing role. He has several recommendations for psychiatrists who want to increase their organizational work. First, he advises finding ways to reduce anxiety 'so that you really believe that you have something to offer a company.' He recommends AOOP membership for the advantage of networking as well as exposure to new ideas. He also advises looking into the Family Business Institute, the International Psychoanalytic Society of Organizations, or the William Alanson White Institute. He recommends reading as much as possible and finding local people with similar interests. His strongest recommendation is to write a book; being published seems to confer automatic credibility.

While Dr. Liu does not profess to have imminent plans to write, if he were to write a book, it would be on the subject of sudden wealth. Perhaps we will be able to report on that in the future.

 
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