Posted by gardenergirl on August 20, 2004, at 0:36:03
In reply to Re: she said it's real, and asked.... » shrinking violet, posted by Lonely on August 19, 2004, at 21:24:31
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> Hmmm, do other board readers/posters hear that from their therapists???
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> Maybe sick and/or disabled therapists would be an interesting topic here at some point. By "sick" I'm referring to people who have a physical disease. I think most therapists have had psychological problems of their own or they would not have gone into the field. That's what my T told me. She also was starting to suggest I consider it.I can't say that my T has ever said anything like that. When we talk about the relationship, it is purely within the context of therapy. But I know that as I approach termination, I will want to talk about grief I know I will have that I can never be just a colleague or friend to him. If he weren't my T, I know I would like him and enjoy him as a colleage. Next year I will even be training at a site similar to where I see him, so he would make an excellent mentor. I already feel this loss, and I know I will need to process it with him fully before I can terminate.
As far as T's with physical illness, we talked about this in school a bit. Illness or diability is something the T brings to the relationship however much they want to be a blank slate. For a T who knows that he or she is dying, that is a real therapy issue to be dealt with. I would imagine it might be quite a conflict for the T internally to be able to manage it for themselves but also therapeutically for their clients. I really don't know how I would do it, but I suppose that right now I lean towards the side of disclosing a serious illness if I thought it would affect therapy with the client. But it has the potential for introducing dynamics that may not otherwise be present...caretaking, grief and loss, death, etc.
Just my thoughts in the middle of the night...
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:377579
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040812/msgs/379754.html