Posted by lookdownfish on December 20, 2003, at 11:29:50
In reply to psychoanalysis vs. CBT, posted by naiad on December 20, 2003, at 7:16:04
My therapist does psychoanalytic therapy. I haven't done CBT or any other type of therapy, so I can't advice on that but I can relate to the difficulties with the psychoanalytic approach. There are sometimes some long silences in a session, and I feel inadequate when she says I should just say what comes into my head, so I can relate to you feeling criticised. It is really hard. We spend our whole lives learning to control what we say and editing it for specific situations, so to just suddenly be able to do free-assocation is impossible, in my opinion. But I do think I am gradually getting slightly better at it - I have been in therapy for about 9 months. I have a transference thing going on and I am getting a bit more relaxed about telling her about it. Maybe not always telling her directly but telling her about dreams and fantasies.
So should you stick with it or not? If it is making you miserable all the time, then maybe quitting is the best option - or is the way you're feeling now just a one-off? Do you believe in the process and feel you might be getting somewhere, however slowly and gradually? If so, then I feel you should stick with it, but if it really is stalemate...try something else. Also, it's often repeated advice, but I think it would help to tell your therapist all of this, especially how miserable it is making you.
poster:lookdownfish
thread:291847
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20031213/msgs/291885.html