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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by finelinebob on August 16, 2006, at 0:35:08
I mean, other than financial reasons ... putting that aside ...
I could probably walk away from my therapist right now and tho I'd miss her and her 2 African Grey Parrots and her 2 cats; my meds have me stabilized, I'm loving my new job, I've got a few issues but they're manageable. yada yada yada.
I've been seeing her at least once a week for about 10 years now. In that time, I've seen a kind of progression in our work:
1) Talking about what I **needed** to talk about when we just started,
2) Talking about what I **wanted** to talk about, after that was addressedEventually, we reached a level of trust where:
3) We started talking about the things I did **not** want to talk about.
Geez, was that hard. I'd have to force my jaw open to get the words out, and sometimes it would take 5-10 minutes to do it. And part of me would be SO angry that I told someone else something that "should" have remained unexamined.But once we got good at that
4) we started talking about things I would **not** even let myself remember without getting some issues at level (3) out in the open.... and about then I found myself one block away from the WTC right after the second plane hit WTC2. Whole new set of issues that I didn't really need, thankyouverymuch.
Anyway, the point (and there is one) is that I can manage. But she won't let me settle for being able to manage, and I agree. She wants to see me living a health life: mentally, physically, socially, whatever. So even though I have issues left to face (especially in the next month), she feels it's time to accentuate the positive since we've done a pretty good job to eliminate the negative. Try to get me to latch on to the affirmative and not settle for any of this Mr. In-Between stuff if I just stopped today.
Curiousity here, not animosity:
If you are looking towards terminating, do you feel like a hatchling getting pushed out of the nest to fly on your own? do you really feel you've hit some limit that can't be passed with your current T?
Posted by Tabitha on August 16, 2006, at 1:11:59
In reply to Why terminate therapy? long, posted by finelinebob on August 16, 2006, at 0:35:08
I'm also a 10 plus year therapy veteran, so I found it interesting the way you mapped out the stages you've gone through.
But... I'm not understanding what you said about accentuating the positive-- is your therapist wanting you to terminate or wanting you to continue? Are you wanting to terminate? If so, for what reason besides saving money?
Posted by finelinebob on August 16, 2006, at 20:33:58
In reply to Re: Why terminate therapy? long, posted by Tabitha on August 16, 2006, at 1:11:59
> But... I'm not understanding what you said about accentuating the positive-- is your therapist wanting you to terminate or wanting you to continue? Are you wanting to terminate? If so, for what reason besides saving money?
Actually, it was kind of the other way around re: the termination issue -- so many discussions going on about it, I'm just wondering what prompts that response in people. No longer worth the money? Need to leap out of the "nest" and test your wings on your own? Just curious.
As for accentuating the positive, I guess it's kinda like this. I've been screwed up since childhood and have developed a large repertoire of screwed up behaviors, social blindspots, whatever. So, now that the biological aspects of my disorder appear to be well managed and now that it appears that my T and me have really dug out the roots of a lot of problems I was having ... well, she wasn't just going let me stop at that, and I didn't want to either.
We may have gotten me turned around and facing the right direction. Now, we're taking a good long hard look at how to get me taking off in a good trajectory in that direction.
Besides, I was wandering my way around the verse of an old song in that paragraph that happens to start with "you have to accentuate the positive..."
Posted by Tabitha on August 16, 2006, at 23:28:49
In reply to Re: Why terminate therapy? long » Tabitha, posted by finelinebob on August 16, 2006, at 20:33:58
I can't say much about my termination decision, since I haven't terminated yet. I have a vague plan that I'll terminate when my life is pretty much the way I want it to be. I don't know when that will happen. My therapist says I'll know when I'm ready.
This is the end of the thread.
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