Only in the land of Freud?

My dentist advised me to see a therapist.

I went for a cleaning and to discuss what we might do about my adult-life-long problem of teeth grinding. He looked at my teeth, into my eyes, and wanted to discuss stress and alternative ways of handling it. He suggested psychotherapy.

Okay, this might be the answer for some teeth grinders. I am not at all opposed to therapy - I'm an MSW, for God's sake! I've sought it a number of times, and have seen therapists for long, ongoing periods of "treatment" in the past. I've never even had a real diagnosis - I just like therapy! So, no objection on principles here.

But my grandfather ground his teeth down to nothing, my dad grinds his, and I have inherited this lovely habit. I grind my teeth when I'm happy, sad, mad, jealous, giggly, dizzy, etc.

I've ground my teeth when I've visited Auschwitz, and I ground my teeth on my honeymoon in the Maledives.

I just do it, and it's horrible, and it's wearing down my teeth. I need to do something about it.

But for now, I just wonder, since when do dentists seriously advise therapy??

It reminded me of when I went to my hair stylist about 3 months ago with below-the-shoulder-length hair and asked for a pixie cut. He stared into my eyes, got really serious, and said, "Honey, are you going through a divorce? Because therapy is usually better than doing something you'll regret tomorrow!"

Somehow, I take my hair stylist's referral to a therapist better than I take my dentist's!