Posted by Susan47 on July 25, 2004, at 11:05:47
I've been reading the posts about contact, including email, after termination.
I wonder; if a T has done a really good job, and his client is actually able to move on, whether personal contact of any kind is necessary. Wouldn't it be healthier to just pay for an hour of his/her time, recognizing that the relationship you always had was really a professional one, and it *was* based on you working out your deepest feelings?
I wonder if perhaps the hazards of keeping in touch after termination would be that the client is used to working with the therapist on a certain level, and may still be looking for more than friendship, whether s/he wants to admit that or not.
It's a difficult issue, because I'm also a person who wants to be trusted. It's hard to make the distinction between professional and personal and I think that's why T's have to be so careful. It's a profession fraught with hazards, isn't it?
As a client I think it's my job to find people in my *real* life to care about and want to be in touch with. Having said *that*, of course, I know how difficult it is.
People who go to T's in the first place seem to be more in touch with their feelings, and sometimes perhaps *project* a bit too much (I'm talking about myself here).
And of course, it's also the T's job to make sure his/her needs are taken care of outside the job.
How to be sensitive and caring and yet still do the best for everyone?
I'm curious; doesn't a T get trained in how to deal with termination effectively?
poster:Susan47
thread:370278
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040723/msgs/370278.html