Posted by Pfinstegg on September 26, 2004, at 23:14:36
In reply to Re: contact after termination(a bit long..) » Pfinstegg, posted by lonelygal on September 26, 2004, at 22:46:57
I guess you're right. She sounds like a young T in training who is quite worried about boundaries, as you say, and doesn't know (yet) how to handle a post-termination phase in a helpful or supportive way. I guess not everyone in training is as secure or intuitive about that as Gardenergirl is! If you can, could you consider it HER problem, and not yours? Try not to let her hurt you any more. In general, I do think mature, experienced Ts take a lot of care to continue support as it's needed even after *termination* - a term which I think is kind of falling into disfavor, anyway. The analyst I am seeing makes a very long-term commitment to his patients, and that includes as much contact as is needed *after*.I think experienced Ts know how powerful the dependency feelings naturally are in therapy and analysis, and they do hold it as a sacred trust not to hurt their patients at any stage, either during or after active treatment.
It sounds like a smart idea to give yourself a break before starting clinical work. I was quite frightened of it- with all its responsibilities- but the first weeks were by far the hardest, and it got much easier as I gained a bit of confidence in myself, and also realized that I had many more senior people to turn to and rely on. It dawned on me a few weeks into the third year that the hardest years were actually the first two! I hope this will be a good year for you, in which you can increase your confidence, and become clearer about your own personal goals. And I do hope you can develop a good relatonship with your new T - that will help so much. Will this also be one who will leave after a year?
poster:Pfinstegg
thread:368821
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040925/msgs/395538.html