Posted by HannahW on September 30, 2003, at 13:08:59
In reply to Trust - A therapy homework, posted by Dinah on September 29, 2003, at 13:19:46
I think the answer to your question is complicated, and depends on a lot of things. What are your existing relationships like? I doubt your therapist wanted you to have that conversation with every one of your friends. Probably just one, or two at the most. Do you have any friends that that would even be appropriate with? It's probably not appropriate with that nice clerk at the grocery store you always talk to, but if you have someone you have lunch with every week, I don't think it's so outrageous.
I think I'd try to come up with a different way of phrasing it, though. Like, "I'd really like to get to know you better..." or "I feel like I've been holding back from you, but I'm working on lowering my defenses."
I have to agree, though, that therapists seem to live in a different world. I've been talking to mine about how sensitive I am to rejection. She thinks that when I have been rejected I should say, "Gee, I really thought we had some potential here, and that we were on the same page. I guess not." AS IF!!! If somebody rejected me once, why would I set myself up to let them reject me again?! When I told her that I was afraid the person might say something like, "Why on earth would you think we had potential?" Her response: "So what?" Good grief.
poster:HannahW
thread:264237
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030925/msgs/264499.html