How to Talk About Various Practitioners

By education and training, this practitioner is an expert in the dark mysteries of human behavior—what makes people act as they do, why they have certain feelings, how their personalities were formed—in short, what makes them tick. Such a professional is often employed by industries, schools, and institutions to devise means for keeping workers productive and happy, students well-adjusted, and inmates contented. With a state license, this person may also do private or group therapy.

This practitioner is a physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist who has been specially trained in the techniques devised by Sigmund Freud, encouraging you to delve into that part of your mind called “the unconscious.” By reviewing the experiences, traumas, feelings, and thoughts of your earlier years, you come to a better understanding of your present worries, fears, conflicts, repressions, insecurities, and nervous tensions—thus taking the first step in coping with them. Treatment, consisting largely in listening to, and helping you to interpret the meaning of, your free-flowing ideas, is usually given in frequent sessions that may well go on for a year or more.

This practitioner is a dentist who has taken postgraduate work in the straightening of teeth.

This practitioner measures your vision and prescribes the type of glasses that will give you a new and more accurate view of the world.

This practitioner grinds lenses according to the specifications prescribed by your optometrist or ophthalmologist, and may also deal in other kinds of optical goods.

This practitioner is a member of the profession that originated in 1874, when Andrew T. Still devised a drugless technique of curing diseases by massage and other manipulative procedures, a technique based on the theory that illness may be caused by the undue pressure of displaced bones on nerves and blood vessels.

Training is equal to that of physicians, and in most states these practitioners may also use the same methods as, and have the full rights and privileges of, medical doctors.

The basic principle of this practitioner’s work is the maintenance of the structural and functional integrity of the nervous system. Treatment consists of manipulating most of the articulations of the body, especially those connected to the spinal column. Licensed and legally recognized in forty-five states, this professional has pursued academic studies and training that parallel those of the major healing professions.

This practitioner treats minor foot ailments—corns, calluses, bunions, fallen arches, etc., and may perform minor surgery.

This practitioner analyzes handwriting to determine character, personality, or aptitudes, and is often called upon to verify the authenticity of signatures, written documents, etc.

This social scientist deals with the financial, economic, sexual, social, retirement, and other non-medical problems of the elderly.

Psychologist is built upon the same Greek root as psychiatrist—psyche, spirit, soul, or mind. In psychiatrist, the combining form is iatreia, medical healing. In psychologist, the combining form is logos, science or study; a psychologist, by etymology, is one who studies the mind.

The field is psychology (sī-KOL′-Ə-jee), the adjective psychological (sī′-kƏ-LOJ′-Ə-kƏl).

Psyche (SĪ′-kee) is also an English word in its own right—it designates the mental life, the spiritual or non-physical aspect of one’s existence. The adjective psychic (SĪ′-kik) refers to phenomena or qualities that cannot be explained in purely physical terms. People may be called psychic if they seem to possess a sixth sense, a special gift of mind reading, or any mysterious aptitudes that cannot be accounted for logically. A person’s disturbance is psychic if it is emotional or mental, rather than physical.

Psyche combines with the Greek pathos, suffering or disease, to form psychopathic (sī-kƏ-PATH′-ik), an adjective that describes someone suffering from a severe mental or emotional disorder. The noun is psychopathy (sī-KOP′-Ə-thee).

Psychopathy is usually characterized by antisocial and extremely egocentric behavior. A psychopath (SĪ′-kƏ-path), sometimes called a psychopathic personality, appears to be lacking an inner moral censor, and often commits criminal acts, without anxiety or guilt, in order to obtain immediate gratification of desires. Such a person may be utterly lacking in sexual restraint, or addicted to hard drugs. Some psychologists prefer the label sociopath (SŌ′-shee-Ə-path′ or SŌ′-see-Ə-path′) for this type of personality to indicate the absence of a social conscience.

The root psyche combines with Greek soma, body, to form psychosomatic (sī′-kō-sƏ-MAT′-ik), an adjective that delineates the powerful influence that the mind, especially the unconscious, has on bodily diseases. Thus, a person who fears the consequence of being present at a certain meeting will suddenly develop a bad cold or backache, or even be injured in a traffic accident, so that his appearance at this meeting is made impossible. It’s a real cold, it’s far from an imaginary backache, and of course one cannot in any sense doubt the reality of the automobile that injured him. Yet, according to the psychosomatic theory of medicine, his unconscious made him susceptible to the cold germs, caused the backache, or forced him into the path of the car.

A psychosomatic disorder actually exists insofar as symptoms are concerned (headache, excessive urination, pains, paralysis, heart palpitations), yet there is no organic cause within the body. The cause is within the psyche, the mind. Dr. Flanders Dunbar, in Mind and Body, gives a clear and exciting account of the interrelationship between emotions and diseases.

Psychoanalysis (sī′-kō-Ə-NAL′-Ə-sis) relies on the technique of deeply, exhaustively probing into the unconscious, a technique developed by Sigmund Freud. In oversimplified terms, the general principle of psychoanalysis is to guide the patient to an awareness of the deep-seated, unconscious causes of anxieties, fears, conflicts, and tension. Once found, exposed to the light of day, and thoroughly understood, claim the psychoanalysts, these causes may vanish like a light snow that is exposed to strong sunlight.

Consider an example: You have asthma, let us say, and your doctor can find no physical basis for your ailment. So you are referred to a psychoanalyst (or psychiatrist or clinical psychologist who practices psychoanalytically oriented therapy).

With your therapist you explore your past life, dig into your unconscious, and discover, let us say for the sake of argument, that your mother or father always used to set for you impossibly high goals. No matter what you accomplished in school, it was not good enough—in your mother’s or father’s opinion (and such opinions were always made painfully clear to you), you could do better if you were not so lazy. As a child you built up certain resentments and anxieties because you seemed unable to please your parent—and (this will sound farfetched, but it is perfectly possible) as a result you became asthmatic. How else were you going to get the parental love, the approbation, the attention you needed and that you felt you were not receiving?

In your sessions with your therapist, you discover that your asthma is emotionally, rather than organically, based—your ailment is psychogenic (sī′-kō-JEN′-ik), of psychic origin, or (the terms are used more or less interchangeably although they differ somewhat in definition) psychosomatic, resulting from the interaction of mind and body. (Psychogenic is built on psyche plus Greek genesis, birth or origin.)

And your treatment? No drugs, no surgery—these may help the body, not the emotions. Instead, you “work out” (this is the term used in psychoanalytic [sī-kō-an′-Ə-LIT′-ik] parlance) early trauma in talk, in remembering, in exploring, in interpreting, in reliving childhood experiences. And if your asthma is indeed psychogenic (or psychosomatic), therapy will very likely help you; your attacks may cease, either gradually or suddenly.

Freudian therapy is less popular today than formerly; many newer therapies—Gestalt, bioenergetics, transactional analysis, to name only a few—claim to produce quicker results.

In any case, psychotherapy (sī-kō-THAIR′-Ə-pee) of one sort or another is the indicated treatment for psychogenic (or psychosomatic) disorders, or for any personality disturbances. The practitioner is a psychotherapist (sī-kō-THAIR′-Ə-pist) or therapist, for short; the adjective is psychotherapeutic (sī-kō-thair′-Ə-PYōō′-tik).

Orthodontist, as we discovered in Chapter 4, is built on orthos, straight, correct, plus odontos, tooth.

A pedodontist (pee′-dō-DON′-tist) specializes in the care of children’s teeth—the title is constructed from paidos, child, plus odontos. The specialty: pedodontia (pee′-dō-DON′-shƏ); the adjective: pedodontic (pee′-dō-DON′-tik).

A periodontist (pair′-ee-ō-DON′-tist) is a gum specialist—the term combines odontos with the prefix peri-, around, surrounding. (As a quick glance in the mirror will tell you, the gums surround the teeth, more or less.)

Can you figure out the word for the specialty?

For the adjective?

An endodontist (en′-dō-DON′-tist) specializes in work on the pulp of the tooth and in root-canal therapy—the prefix in this term is endo-, from Greek endon, inner, within.

Try your hand again at constructing words. What is the specialty?

And the adjective?

The prefix ex-, out, combines with odontos to form exodontist (eks′-ō-DON′-tist). What do you suppose, therefore, is the work in which this practitioner specializes?

The optometrist, by etymology, measures vision—the term is built on opsis, optikos, view, vision, plus metron, measurement.

Metron is the root in many other words:

1. thermometer (thƏr-MOM′-Ə-tƏr)—an instrument to measure heat (Greek therme, heat).
2. barometer (bƏ-ROM′-Ə-ter)—an instrument to measure atmospheric pressure (Greek baros, weight); the adjective is barometric (bair′-Ə-MET′-rik).
3. sphygmomanometer (sfig′-mō-mƏ-NOM′-Ə-tƏr)—a device for measuring blood pressure (Greek sphygmos, pulse).
4. metric system—a decimal system of weights and measures, long used in other countries and now gradually being adopted in the United States.

Osteopath combines Greek osteon, bone, with pathos, suffering, disease. Osteopathy (os′-tee-OP′-Ə-thee), you will recall, was originally based on the theory that disease is caused by pressure of the bones on blood vessels and nerves. An osteopathic (os′-tee-Ə-PATH′-ik) physician is not a bone specialist, despite the misleading etymology—and should not be confused with the orthopedist, who is.

The podiatrist (Greek pous, podos, foot, plus iatreia, medical healing) practices podiatry (pƏ-DĪ′-Ə-tree). The adjective is podiatric (pō′-dee-AT′-rik).

The root pous, podos is found also in:

1. octopus (OK′-tƏ-pƏs), the eight-armed (or, as the etymology has it, eight-footed) sea creature (Greek okto, eight).
2. platypus (PLAT′-Ə-pƏs), the strange water mammal with a duck’s bill, webbed feet, and a beaver-like tail that reproduces by laying eggs (Greek platys, broad, flat—hence, by etymology, a flatfoot!).
3. podium (PŌ′-dee-Əm), a speaker’s platform, etymologically a place for the feet. (The suffix -ium often signifies “place where,” as in gymnasium, stadium, auditorium, etc.)
4. tripod (TRĪ′-pod), a three-legged (or “footed”) stand for a camera or other device (tri-, three).
5. chiropodist (kƏ-ROP′-Ə-dist), earlier title for a podiatrist, and still often used. The specialty is chiropody (kƏ-ROP′-Ə-dee).

Chiropody combines podos with Greek cheir, hand, spelled chiro- in English words. The term was coined in the days before labor-saving machinery and push-button devices, when people worked with their hands and developed calluses on their upper extremities as well as on their feet. Today most of us earn a livelihood in more sedentary occupations, and so we may develop calluses on less visible portions of our anatomy.

Chiropractors heal with their hands—the specialty is chiropractic (kī′-rō-PRAK′-tik).

Cheir (chiro-), hand, is the root in chirography (kī-ROG′-rƏ-fee). Recalling the graph- in graphologist, can you figure out by etymology what chirography is?

An expert in writing by hand, or in penmanship (a lost art in these days of electronic word-processing), would be a chirographer (kī-ROG′-rƏ-fƏr); the adjective is chirographic (kī′-rƏ-GRAF′-ik).

If the suffix -mancy comes from a Greek word meaning foretelling or prediction, can you decide what chiromancy (KĪ′-rƏ-man′-see) must be?

The person who practices chiromancy is a chiromancer (KĪ′-rƏ-man′-sƏr); the adjective is chiromantic (kī′-rƏ-MAN′-tik).

The Greek verb graphein, to write, is the source of a great many English words.

We know that the graphologist analyzes handwriting, the term combining graphein with logos, science, study. The specialty is graphology (grƏ-FOL′-Ə-jee), the adjective graphological (graf′-Ə-LOJ′-Ə-kƏl).

Chirographer is built on graphein plus cheir (chiro-), hand. Though chirography may be a lost art, calligraphy (kƏ-LIG′-rƏ-fee) is enjoying a revival. For centuries before the advent of printing, calligraphy, or penmanship as an artistic expression, was practiced by monks.

A calligrapher (kƏ-LIG′-rƏ-fƏr) is called upon to design and write announcements, place cards, etc., as a touch of elegance. The adjective is calligraphic (kal′-Ə-GRAF′-ik).

Calligraphy combines graphein with Greek kallos, beauty, and so, by etymology, means beautiful writing.

An entrancing word that also derives from kallos is callipygian (kal′-Ə-PIJ′-ee-Ən), an adjective describing a shapely or attractive rear end, or a person so endowed—the combining root is pyge, buttocks.

If a word exists for artistic handwriting, there must be one for the opposite—bad, scrawly, or illegible handwriting. And indeed there is—cacography (kƏ-KOG′-rƏ-fee), combining graphein with Greek kakos, bad, harsh.

By analogy with the forms of calligraphy, can you write the word for:

One who uses bad or illegible handwriting?

Pertaining to, or marked by, bad handwriting (adjective)?

Graphein is found in other English words:

1. cardiograph (discussed in Chapter 4)—etymologically a “heart writer” (kardia, heart).
2. photograph—etymologically, “written by light” (Greek photos, light).
3. phonograph—etymologically, a “sound writer” (Greek phone, sound).
4. telegraph—etymologically a “distance writer” (Greek tele-, distance).
5. biography—etymologically “life writing” (Greek bios, life).

(Many of these new roots will be discussed in greater detail in later chapters.)

We know that a geriatrician specializes in the medical care of the elderly. The Greek word geras, old age, has a derived form, geron, old man, the root in gerontologist. The specialty is gerontology (jair′-Ən-TOL′-Ə-jee), the adjective is gerontological (jair′-Ən-tƏ-LOJ′-Ə-kƏl).

The Latin word for old is senex, the base on which senile, senescent, senior, and senate are built.

1. senile (SEE′-nīl)—showing signs of the physical and/or mental deterioration that generally marks very old age. The noun is senility (sƏ-NIL′-Ə-tee).
2. senescent (sƏ-NES′-Ənt)—aging, growing old. (Note the same suffix in this word as in adolescent, growing into an adult, convalescent, growing healthy again, and obsolescent, growing or becoming obsolete.) The noun is senescence (sƏ-NES′-Əns).
3. senior (SEEN′-yƏr)—older. Noun: seniority (seen-YAWR′-Ə-tee).
4. senate (SEN′-Ət)—originally a council of older, and presumably wiser, citizens.