Posted by Karen_kay on February 1, 2004, at 16:21:13
In reply to Rant in Response to All (very long), posted by Racer on February 1, 2004, at 15:32:35
Wow! That was quite some rant! But, I did enjoy it :) And I hope very much to see more in the future, if you don't mind.....
The thing is, that we, as clients, tend to see the relationship for more than it really is. Or am I wrong?? Or am I the only one? Is there something wrong with me??
Or maybe we don't? I am his favorite client, after all. And that's where I get throw off. Because I feel I run the risk of being needy. [And I am truly sorry if this is off target, but it has to do with the "relationship"] I fear that I don't have a healthy attachment to my therapist. That I am far too attached to him than I should be. That I have more invested in this relationship than he does (well, of course I do, this is only his job, and IT IS my life, for crying out loud!!!). So, I try to counter that with aloofness during sessions. And I think that perhaps he tries to counter my aloofness with his openness (???? possibly, maybe). So, it's a constant struggle. A tug-of-war of sorts. I continually keep him at arms length because I feel I have more invested in this relationship than he ever will, so I have so much more to lose than he does. All he has to lose is my beautiful face, my charm, and a paycheck of course. I have my sanity at stake. That's a pretty big risk to be putting in the hands of someone I've only known for a short amount of time.
His openness has a lot to do with my inquisitiveness. I'm rather known for asking endless questions. I'm also known for setting people up to fall into my traps, which he does. And I delight in the fact that he does it. But, it also makes me realize that he's human. He makes mistakes. He's entitled to. He also calls me on the fact that I'm rather manipulative (who? me?).
I do have a question though... Why not tell a client their age? I asked Bubba his age, but only because he kept mentioning that we were close in age, yet I'm so bad at guessing ages I finally said, "I can't tell if you're 25 or 40. How old are you?" What's the harm in answering if asked?
poster:Karen_kay
thread:308062
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040131/msgs/308218.html