GTKAS - Pablito

[Andycyca]

Hi! You may write an brief "About me" before answering anything.

What do you do for a living?
Age?
Where are you from?
What was the last book you've read?
What was the las album you heard?
What is your favorite holiday?
What is your least favorite activity?
Favorite...
...Alcoholic drink?
...non-alcoholic drink?
...Ice cream flavor?
...movie?
...musician?
...mafia role?

[Simenon]

Favorite novelist?
Playwright?
Poet?

[Kmd4390]

Favorite person to play mafia with?
Least favorite?
Favorite Mod?
Least Favorite?


(All answers must include a name.)

[pablito]

<--- That is Hermann Rorschach, creator of the rorschach inkblot method. I enjoy using it when I do psychological evaluations.

26/m doctoral student in last semester of clinical psychology studies. Live in Philly. Originally from Twin cities, MN.

I am currently reading Beautiful Boy by David Scheff. I finished Tweak by Nic Scheff, so I'm reading to get the idea of how it is to be the family member of an addict. Will start up next on The Dice Man by Luke Reinheart about a psychiatrist that lets his decisions be decided by the dice. I don't read many novels though, only memoirs/humor.

I just listened to Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer. I enjoy progressive bluegrass, but I enjoy most types of music. Chris Thile is a mandolin genius.

I enjoy Christmas. I'm actually not a fan of holidays themselves, just the gatherings that occur and being with that company.

I don't enjoy cleaning the shower/tub. I hated when my old roommate wouldn't even bother rinse the tub after shaving or dying her hair. Left some really bad stains to clean up.

Favorite...
...Alcoholic drink?

Jack and Coke

...non-alcoholic drink?

Antarctic Guaraná

...Ice cream flavor?

Back when I used to eat dairy ice cream, I would eat a half-gallon of Breyer's Oreo Cookies and Cream every three days. I no longer have ice cream more than once a month.

...movie?

Shaun of the Dead I think. Other nice ones are those by Almodóvar, Spike Jonze, or written by Charlie Kaufman.

...musician?

Ben Folds.

...mafia role?

Vanilla townie probably, I find it much more worthwhile to not have the pressure of saving/targetting someone and still make a difference in the game. If it has to be a power role then it'd be doctor.


I won't shy away from most questions and I'll answer them fairly honestly. So feel free to keep them coming in. I will answer the ones that just were posted after I come back from getting dinner.

[Oman]

Where do you want to be in the next five years?

Do you think ethics play an important part in the development of clincial psych or are they a barrier?

What is your favourite Psych experiment through the ages (mine is when they cut out the cats' brain bits and they moved whilst dreaming)?

Psychosomosis: Do you approve/your thoughts?

Aussieland?

[pablito]

Favorite novelist?
Playwright?
Poet?

I like Danny Wallace the comedian for his memoirs. I like the ways that he bucks conventionality. He doesn't write novels, and he doesn't write spectacularly, so therefore if I must go with a novelist it would be Tim O'Brien for 'the things they carried'. It's been one of the few novels in which I truly appreciate the author's voice and its sense of reality.

I wish I were more well spoken in plays to have one. I don't, though. I admit I like the play Closer, so whoever wrote that one.

I'm not a fan of poetry. But when I studied in Galicia, there was a form of poetry I found interesting for its format and extreme repetition called Leixapren. Don't know who does it, though. I'm sure I'm a fan of certain Spanish poets during their civil war, but I can't remember the names off the top of my head.

Favorite person to play mafia with?
Least favorite?
Favorite Mod?
Least Favorite?


(All answers must include a name.)

Favorite person to play with is Glork, especially when I made things difficult for him in either Committee, LO1 or KM2...very much so in KM2. That performance defined one way I play the game.

Least favorite person to play with would be DGB. I enjoy her humor and I respect her as a person/character, but when I play with her, she either backs down way too early or goes in the wrong direction all the time even when we're both pro-town. I don't like playing with her because I know it doesn't end well because of our very different styles and I'm never certain what to expect of her. But I don't think she's a bad person to play with, but she's not a good fit for my style.

Favorite mod would be Kelly Chen. The games I've played of hers weren't very enjoyable - mostly due to the players, not her. But she really made open games big and her sense of balance was very well prepared. She put effort into really challenging some traditional game standards early on but did so respectfully I thought. And she didn't overdo things. It was all very comprehensive.

Least favorite mod is Thestatusquo in invitational. He was very unreliable and I didn't understand some of his rules - such as the deadline formula or asking questions of the mod being a punishable offense. He flaked in that game, but there were other times he flaked that I can't stand behind either.

[pablito]

Where do you want to be in the next five years?

Do you think ethics play an important part in the development of clincial psych or are they a barrier?

What is your favourite Psych experiment through the ages (mine is when they cut out the cats' brain bits and they moved whilst dreaming)?

Psychosomosis: Do you approve/your thoughts?

Aussieland?

2. Ethics have played already an important part in the development of the clinical psychology field. Due to many lawsuits, I feel that there are a lot more stringent practices that have been placed. In most states, child abuse is a topic that is mandated to report. The states' definition for abuse can be sometimes very strict and making a report can have a strong impact on the relationship that has been developed between therapist and client.

Many assessment tools are out of practice as well because they are no longer seen as being ethically sound due to the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) but these tools are the ones that I find are the most clinically important. Ditto for psychological interventions. The movements often is toward empirically validated treatments that are manualized and give to diagnoses. I feel that you always need to treat the client as an individual and provide the care to the individual. And the environment due to ethics is no longer open to things that once were common practice.

However, ethics are a very important part in clinical psychology and it is not the ethical standards themselves that are annoying, but moreso the mindset that has been created by psychologist organizations. Given a litigious environment and a free-for-all environment, I'd take the current environment full of malpractice lawsuits because there are way too many therapists sexing up their clients these days. It's unbelievable how many continue to do it.

Overall answer, I'll take the barriers, because they provide good boundaries, but I wish that psychologists were smart enough to naturally respect those boundaries without needing these laws/ethical standards in the first place.


3. I'm not big into experimental psychology, I'm closest to being a psychoanalyst, so my answer is a social psych experiment in which I acted as a confederate. The study had a person come into a room of four people, three were confederates - one loud and wrong, one quiet and right and the other didn't care. Everyone picked slips and somehow the subject was the leader and had to do a team building task with all of us. Then we coded language that the person used as well as feelings about leadership and gender before and after the talking. It was just fun to do.

If it has to be more of an experiment that we think of back in the ages, I'll have to go with the one where the dogs were zapped by a metal plate underneath the cage all the time and for no reason and eventually became so hopeless that they wouldn't even react to being zapped. This is called learned hopelessness as performed by Martin Seligman.


4. Psychosomosis. I never heard it using this term. If it means psychosomatics, like somatoform disorders, then yes, it exists. I approve and do not believe that these persons are just malingering and being a "hypochondriac". I think it is entirely possible to have perception difficulties as a result of a purely psychological issue. Glove amnesia does happen, in my opinion. I also think that Body Identity Integration Disorder (often seen as wanna-be amputees) has something similar to do with this. While neuropsychologically, it may be difficult to show that the nerve endings can be affected in such a specific area, the mind's perception of the body can be affected. Amputees have phantom limb, and I think that this is similar to what might happen with psychosomosis.


5. Would love to visit Australia. Met quite a few Aussies along in my travels and have loved them all for their sense of adventure and lack of inhibition. Also want to see the barrier. Have some distant family that lives there now, too. However, tickets are expensive. That's what has kept me away mostly. In fact, now that I remember before spring break of 2006 I decided to go to Atlantic City on a February day. I didn't know what to do for spring break and I decided, hey, I gotta go somewhere exotic and always wanted to go to Australia. I was already up 100 bucks and I had a 300 bank on the $5 blackjack table I believe (and 200 backup in pocket). I told myself that if I can make 1000 by the end of the night (about a triple up), I will book a ticket to Sydney for spring break when I got back that night. I got up to about 800 total and went to the restroom feeling incredibly stoked that I had a $500 chip in my pocket. Got back and went up to 890. Played double or nothing and lost the profits, the bank and an extra few trying to win it all back. All in about a 30 minute period because of the double or nothing play. Alas, blame the casino that I haven't gone.

I just realized on preview that I didn't answer #1 and will do that when I get back.

[pablito]

1. In the next five years, I hope to have a semi-established independent practice. I should be a licensed psychologist by then and I'll have already worked in a school for a few years doing psychological evaluations. So I should have enough referrals to have my own assessment practice, and I'd like to have some child therapy clients on the side. Probably those that have been traumatized, as I seem to have the best luck really helping them find out what's going on with their lives. But I doubt I could have a fully-sustained independent practice, so I'll probably be working at a community mental health center or as a school psychologist for a part/full-time job as well. Maybe a family and a nice house and definitely not an internet addict at that time. I should be way too busy making a living to be able to enjoy a site like this. And perhaps I'll still have aspirations of being an alcoholic and gambler in five years. Who knows if I'll be able to keep up, as it's been too much work to be an alcoholic these days. I'd love to live and do this in some fun place like in Europe or an island, but the likelihood is too high that I'll be stuck in some cold place like Philly, Chicago or MN.

[Oman]

4. Psychosomosis. I never heard it using this term. If it means psychosomatics, like somatoform disorders, then yes, it exists. I approve and do not believe that these persons are just malingering and being a "hypochondriac". I think it is entirely possible to have perception difficulties as a result of a purely psychological issue. Glove amnesia does happen, in my opinion. I also think that Body Identity Integration Disorder (often seen as wanna-be amputees) has something similar to do with this. While neuropsychologically, it may be difficult to show that the nerve endings can be affected in such a specific area, the mind's perception of the body can be affected. Amputees have phantom limb, and I think that this is similar to what might happen with psychosomosis.

Its very similar, its the effect of the mental state on the physical state: Medical conditions derived from psychological factors.

One of the more famous cases (Though for some reason of debatable truth due to the fantastical nature of it. Regardless, its the case I based my screenplay for my English Final, so its the one I know) is the railway worker who was locked in the refridgerated boxcar overnight. They find him dead and autopsy reveals he froze to death (accute hypothermia). However the boxcar wasn't powered, and the temperature would never have dropped below 10 Degrees celsius.

That kind of thing. There are better more "accepted" examples, but I can't remember for the life of me. Bah!

I have no idea if the above is true, but they're looking at the condition pretty intensly.


Also, damn the casino!

[Porochaz]

Why did you leave? You made me cry...

[pablito]

The reason I believe that psychosomosis is real is because I feel that it is not necessarily my job to determine if the person is lying or not. If the person is lying, it'll come out eventually, and the person can eventually figure out why the person is lying. But I think that more often than not, the brain can change its perception about the body due to neurological problems. So I think it's entirely possible to become blind or lose feeling in a body part due to stress or some trauma that is "purely psychological." Subconsciously the brain can shut down a part of the body as a defense mechanism because it needs to defend the person against something worse.

One story off the top of my head is the person who was in a car accident and became blind, but it was due to psychological factors because the eyes were shut down so that the person wouldn't necessarily have to deal with seeing more reminders of the accident. Or losing feeling in the hand because the brain doesn't want to have to deal with touch at that time due to a traumatic event.

But my basis is more on case material. Does the research support my theories? Not the part on the motivations or reasons, but research is much stronger on the fact that it exists.

I will answer Porochaz's question once I finish lunch, because the answer is one that I anticipate to be long. It is not one that is answered just as "didn't have time."

[pablito]

Why did you leave? You made me cry...

I'm sorry I made you cry. I don't wanna be like the baby daddy that goes out for some Rebel Yell, an eighth and a carton of Natural American Spirit brand cigarettes and never returns. In all fairness, I often mentioned I was going to leave before I did it. I just didn't make a big announcement, because it's not my style.

I had less time to spend, but at the same time I was supposed to leave a lot earlier than I did, so truly I could've stayed this entire time. I really felt dismayed with many players' priorities on the website. I modded a game where I had to repeatedly prod a player, but I could see that the player was posting regularly in general discussion whenever the player was online (which wasn't necessarily often). Things got out of hand and I no longer enjoyed the site. I think that the atmosphere here has gone back to a reasonable balance, but the players I enjoyed back in the day are either not as fun because they're burnt out or they're not here. I'd take a pure vanilla game anyday to see mafia go back to its origins and really see the gameplay/discussion flourish.

Overall, I felt like GD took over people's lives and they neglected mafia. And I was disgusted that games could be second priority to general discussion topics. And that's why I left. I'm glad to see it's not a problem as rampant as it was before, but I'm not certain that it won't go back to that problem.

[ShadowLurker]

Sum up a typical Tengaged game from a psychiatrist's perspective

[pablito]

Hmmm....Know lots of people before you even sit down in a session so that way your multiple personalities overrule any new incoming personalities.

[Eteocles]

Who should I vote for? Surstromming or Lexxu?

[Shanba]

What's your favourite game you modded?
What's your favourite game you played?

[pablito]

Please vote out him.

[pablito]

But do not tell anyone that's who I said to vote.

[ShadowLurker]

Pablito, there's an edit button! No need to post like it's Tengaged

[pablito]

done. you guys gotta build up karma and just be active there - because once rookies hits (you gotta buy the yellowcard), you just make infallible alliances and you win games.

Eteo - friend me and/or tell me your username over there.

Shanba - This is a necroed threat, but I'll answer. favorite to mod? I would have said Ultimatum - because I enjoyed teaming up with guardian and playing out a new format. favorite to play here? Newbie 280 because it's iconic example of my gameplay and it was amazing being able to fend off the threats to get the win.

[ShadowLurker]

Will people be smart enough to notice that every game Eteo and I have played has been together?

[pablito]

No. I've played five of my rookies with the same people and they still don't realize I'm automatically aligned with him. Gotta switch it up though. Please kill knixuk for me, neg him to death, he'll hate it.

[ShadowLurker]

knixuk and Libra hate each other so Eteocles is allying with Libra to neg knixuk and I am allying with knixuk to neg Libra so they'll be on the block every day and we can constantly keep voting out the third person on the block.


What do you feel about this alliance accusation? http://www.tengaged.com/blog/Haskova/34 ... s-alliance Are you a part of it?

[pablito]

My name is not up there, so I am not sure where I stand with those guys. The game is too complex anyway. It's not that easy to follow who stands where. Biggest names in the game, and I'm a first time player.

Good job with the manipulation. Also whenever someone starts bitching about negging, blame knix right away. Libra is a person who will neg, knix won't. And if you let knix get on a moral brigade, he may fall apart and implode.

[skitzer]

I'm playing on that website now...