Posted by spoc on May 30, 2004, at 15:59:25
In reply to Re: Maybe I can post this part » Dinah, posted by pegasus on May 29, 2004, at 23:23:36
I saw a male therapist off and on for about a year awhile back, sometimes skipping weeks on end with neither of us minding. Maybe he would easily forget what my issues were or something. But, BIGGIES amongst them were body image problems (sometimes seeming to border on body dysmorphic disorder) and struggling with an old eating disorder. I was handling it all through an exhaustive exercise compulsion that was eating way into my life.
When I'd walk in the door sometimes, this guy would say things like "Hey, you look great! Have you been working out more?" He also used words like "pumped" and once even said "hot." I did *know* he was not coming onto me, and he was just a very casual, dettached, sometimes racy-humored guy. But I couldn't believe he thought commenting on my looks from one week to the next could be ok for my head, seeing as I desperately needed to develop a consistent self-image. I would let anticipation of his comments or lack of them stop me from wanting to show up on certain days. In fact that's why I *did* cancel sometimes.
poster:spoc
thread:351655
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040522/msgs/352179.html