Posted by mair on February 27, 2004, at 12:56:57
In reply to Re: Needing Your Therapist/Cycles » Karen_kay, posted by DaisyM on February 27, 2004, at 10:45:42
My therapist recently suggested that maybe she should make it a homework assignment to call her in between sessions. She thinks I have a lot of trouble expressing my needs to other people and that I tend to keep my distance from her and others for fear of overwelming them with my neediness. I really do resist making a real connection with her; I pretty much convince myself on a regular basis that I'm of no importance to her and shouldn't unnecessarily burden her. It's taken years for me to admit that I'm pretty dependent on being able to meet with her twice a week - and even when I can admit my dependency I construct it as a dependency on therapy but not a dependency on her.
We've had tons of discussions about my reluctance to call her. I used to think that I really shouldn't call her unless I was literally on the verge of committing suicide. She keeps trying to convince me that I don't have feel suicidal to call her - pretty basic stuff but still problematical for me. I think part of the reluctance is also an uncertainty about what the conversation would be. I have a hard enough time talking about feelings in therapy; I think it would be so much harder on the telephone.
It sounds as if you've really been progressing - I hope I'll get there some day but it does sometimes seem like too high a hill to climb.
Mair
poster:mair
thread:318100
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040225/msgs/318237.html