Posted by messadivoce on December 5, 2004, at 0:01:45
In reply to Re: Babble Guide to Therapists: Do's and Don'ts » dawnfawn, posted by simcha on December 4, 2004, at 18:15:28
I feel like I have to add my $.02 about some of your comments, I can't resist. About the clock issue, my T did watch the clock but he did it very discretely and I did have a clock in my line of vision. I watched it a lot early on and it was actually used "against" me (why are you watching the clock?). But as things got more intense, I tended to place the timeframe of the session completely in his hands and not ever look.
It's probably true that some clients have "boundary issues" about time, but what I loved about my T was that he wasn't afraid to go a little over if we were deeply into an issue that was not going to be resolved quickly. Once, about 15 minutes before a session ended, I worked up the courage to tell him about a particularly traumatic event. We ended our time together 10 minutes late, but I needed that extra time to be able to finish my thoughts and process it a little before I was herded out the door. I think a good T knows when those special circumstances are occuring. I also have issues about feeling gyped (attention wise) by my dad, and when my T would give me all my time plus a little extra, that went a long way towards me trusting him.
About treatment method, if the client asks about your method, I think it's best to share honestly. Had I known that my T was psychodynamic and therefore used the relationship that we developed, I might have been more prepared for the feelings I developed for him that he encouraged. I was pretty bowled over the by love/transference and I felt pretty blindsided by it.
poster:messadivoce
thread:420851
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20041203/msgs/424527.html