Posted by twinleaf on October 15, 2008, at 17:39:25
In reply to Re: How often do you....? » JayMac, posted by 10derHeart on October 14, 2008, at 23:47:21
I am just the same as everyone else- he's just always "there" in my mind. As therapy has gone along, I find that he is more and more "there", so that there is a stronger connection between us during sessions, and it is also easier to go on feeling OK when he's away (right now he has gone to Italy to go sailing with some Italian psychiatrists). The only thing which tends to derail this is when we have a rupture- often these are subtle and hard to detect- but once we find it and repair it, the connection feels even stronger and moire precious than before.
Because I had intensive therapy when I was a teenager, I've had the experience of terminating- and of what happens to one's attachment afterwards. After the first very hard months, I found that I was OK, and that the therapist I had had stayed firmly in my mind (heart, really) from then onwards, and was a sort of internal loving mentor as I went to grad school, married and had children. I did return to see him once but our main contact is through Christmas notes. The memory of him never grew dim or disappeared. It's still there, alongside the new therapist. In my imagination, the two therapists agree on important things, and I feel certain they would like one another if they met!
From everything I've read, from what everyone has written here, as well as from my own experience, I don't think it's possible to overestimate how important this relationship is. It's well worth our while to choose our therapists carefully, since, if all goes well, they will become part of our inner lives for the rest of our lives.
poster:twinleaf
thread:857503
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20081005/msgs/857619.html