Posted by Dinah on November 6, 2009, at 9:10:05
In reply to worried about T, posted by blahblahblah on November 5, 2009, at 19:15:46
This sounds far more serious than a bit of stress. You call her and she says she's feeling manic? She calls you at inappropriate hours? She's not well and she needs help.
What would you say if you read your post written by someone else? I'm guessing you know the answer, but think that your relationship with her is different because it's special. That's how people always feel when they care about someone. That's what keeps people in bad relationships.
If she actually is having a bipolar incident of some sort, I don't expect her to have a lot of insight. But I'm surprised her office staff isn't more aware and more concerned for their own jobs if she's a private practitioner or for the agency reputation if she's with an agency. One of her clients is very likely to report her, which may not be an altogether bad thing since she clearly needs help and clearly is not at a point to do meaningful therapy right now. I'm not saying you should be that person. I'm just pointing out that if she really is this bad off, others will notice, and this will be a problem in her life whatever you do. You can't protect her, and it isn't your job to protect her. You need to do what is healthy for you to do. Therapy is about you, not her.
As much as I care about my therapist, when his real life starts to be a problem in my therapy, I let him know. To his credit, he is ok with my letting him know, and does his best to fix it.
Just my two cents, for whatever it's worth. You need to do what's best for you. That may or may not be walking away until she's better. But IMO, it does mean not taking responsibility for her condition.
poster:Dinah
thread:924647
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20091022/msgs/924703.html