Posted by MollieQ on April 21, 2009, at 11:50:32
In reply to Does posting here take away 'magic' of therapy?, posted by FindingMyDesire on April 20, 2009, at 20:41:54
This is an interesting thread. I read the older one too, which was also interesting.
I can see at least two concerns T's might have. The first is concern about what we might be taking from the internet, e.g. bad advice or information that may harm us or sidetrack/hijack our therapy. This is probably at least partly due to unfamiliarity with the site. I find Babble threads to be somewhat self-regulating since the posters are more thoughtful on Babble than I've seen on most sites. So fallacies, bad advice etc tend to be noticed and explored in discussion. But as always, cavaet emptor and we have to police ourselves as to what we take in. But that is true of any influence, including friends, books, courses and so on.
The second concern would be mostly for the psychonalytic therapies, in which the relationship lives and breathes within a "cocoon" of mutual privacy. The work of therapy takes place within this cocoon. (Pushing the metaphor, then when the work is all done, the cocoon will open up and out we will spring with our butterfly wings!) In this context I can understand the concern about possibly diluting the transference.
However, there are many ways in which Babble supports and enriches our therapy experiences, especially since the stock advice is "talk to your T about it." It provides support when no other support is available. It normalizes our feelings and experiences. How about a raise of hands for those here who felt relieved by how many of us go through intense feelings of love for our T's? It would be counter-productive if those feelings are only processed here but usually this is no secret to the therapy. And in many cases, Babble has helped prep people to raise this and other difficult topics in therapy.
There have also been many times, for me, when something someone's said or that I've myself written, makes me suddenly aware of an issue I hadn't known about. For instance, I wrote a somewhat flip response to the "pictures" thread above, something about T's needing their own transition objects. And after I'd written it, I suddenly became aware that I was angry at my own T for issues about something related to self-disclosure. But it didn't stop there because I also realized that I was being triggered by a number of events, bring a rather primal issue to the fore for discussion in our next meeting. I would not have been so observant if I did not have this context and responded to the thread.
And finally, talking about our T's and the relationship can actually enhance our feelings rather than dilute them. When anyone we are strongly attached to is away from us, doesn't it help to keep them close by talking about them, and your relationship with them, to others? In that sense, Babble itself serves as a "transition object" that helps us sustain our connectedness with our Ts and our therapy in between sessions.
So basically, Babble is like any other tool and a potentially powerful one at that. Whether it is used "for good or evil" depends upon how wisely it is used by the wielder.
FMD, thanks for bringing this topic up. Lots of useful food for thought.
Mollie
poster:MollieQ
thread:891846
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090421/msgs/891921.html