Posted by Pfinstegg on September 17, 2003, at 20:27:20
In reply to Re: Thank you!My next session's going to be a big one! » Pfinstegg, posted by HannahW on September 17, 2003, at 11:31:02
I don't really know, Hannah. The beginning seemed a little unusual to me- going from her being your pdoc, to your wanting a non-professional relationship (which was a very natural desire, although you can't have both at the same time- and I'm not sure you can ever have it because of the transferences which can continue on), and THEN, if I remember correctly, her inviting you to become her client.There were already so many strong feelings on your part and I'm not sure you were in a position to choose wisely who would be the best therapist for you. From my experience, it does help a lot to interview more than one. I think we do end up choosing them by "feel"more than anything else, but if you had interviewed several, you might have preferred to choose someone else. There was also the hint of some problems in your therapist's life which she allowed you to know a bit about- to me that is not a professional way to begin, and really should not ever be a part of a therapeutic relationship.
Therapists who are skillful want you to be able to bring all the feelings that you have into the treatment relationship- it's to your advantage to have as strongly loving and close a relationship as you possibly can with him/her. But that's not all you'll have- you'll also feel huge amounts of hatred, rage, jealousy, detachment., etc. Speaking from personal experience here! It's so hard to go through with therapy- you want to make sure that you have someone with whom you feel that you will be able to develop enough of a sense of safety to fully experience all of these things; you can't also be also worrying about whether they know what they are doing. Just to sum it up, go with your gut instinct about her- it won't betray you.
Pfinstegg
poster:Pfinstegg
thread:259801
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030905/msgs/261155.html