Posted by Dinah on May 29, 2005, at 9:48:25
In reply to Re: Approximate relationships, posted by Tamar on May 25, 2005, at 16:21:44
This one didn't really resonate with me. My therapist is a counselor rather than an analyst or psychologist. Maybe he sees his role a bit differently?
He's big on giving me responsibility for my own therapy. He answers appropriate questions as honestly as he can. He admits when he doesn't know something. He explains the process as best he can.
My son's play therapist gave out a "What You Need to Know About Therapy" at the first session. It included things like what feelings you might expect to have for your therapist, and other things from this chapter. It was several pages long. I thought it was a good idea. I may have mentioned it to my therapist, but I don't think he uses it. Because at one time or another I've seen most of his new client handouts in his little copier/printer, and I've never seen one.
I think I like my therapist's stance, so I think I'd agree with Ms. Lott in her recommendations in this chapter.
I'll admit that over the ten years of therapy, my therapist has done a few of the things in the third to last paragraph. And they give me a bit of insight into ways he's thinking that might not be quite what a perfect therapist might think. But he hasn't done any of those things consistently enough for me to worry about.
Except maybe defensiveness. He does tend to be that way. He says he works hard on it. I believe him. Sometimes his defensiveness is quite overt. Sometimes it's very subtle. Like I can feel him mentally saying "Ouch" and lowering some barriers.
poster:Dinah
thread:491935
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050528/msgs/504638.html