Posted by Dinah on December 27, 2004, at 19:55:11
In reply to Re: Lifetime Therapy » daisym, posted by alexandra_k on December 27, 2004, at 15:50:47
I think what we're trying to say is that the needs we get met in therapy are *different* needs than the ones we get met in real life.
I don't expect my friends or relatives to be my therapist. I hope they don't expect me to be theirs. Well, my parents did so perhaps I'm extra special cautious about doing the same to others. It was wrong of them.
My time in therapy doesn't prevent me from looking to meet those needs elsewhere because I'm meeting them in therapy. On the contrary, I managed to go most of my life without getting many of my needs met at all in real life. My therapist teaches me how to get needs met appropriately in real life for the first time. Well, we're working on it anyway. I wouldn't be at Babble if it weren't for therapy, for example.
And it is very definitely not my therapist's practice to ensnare clients for a steady income stream. With the exception of me, his clients are mainly six session to one year short term CBT clients. He gets extra supervision and consultation on my case because he doesn't generally do long term - definitely not this long term. So I don't think he chose this one person - me - to try to addict them to therapy. On the contrary, I fought long and hard to get the relationship we have. It is totally unfair to that good man to blame him for the length of our association. I can be enormously strong willed. He *has* come to see the many ways I am better off for ongoing therapy, though. He'd be equally happy were I to need to see him less.
I don't expect you to understand my position, so I won't bore you further by trying to explain. We just have different ideas about therapy, that's all. You seem to see it more as a teaching experience?
poster:Dinah
thread:432629
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20041218/msgs/434734.html