Posted by Dinah on November 13, 2002, at 11:48:08
In reply to Re: Mistake-Dinah » Miller, posted by Dinah on November 13, 2002, at 11:38:51
Wish I did, Miller.
I think at some point, you learn to trust your therapist enough, and then you screw up your courage and make that big leap of faith, trusting him to be there to steady you when you land. And then after the first couple of times, it gets easier and easier, assuming he acted professionally the first time and showed that he warranted your trust.
And even then there may be areas where you still have to screw up your courage and make that leap of faith. I know my therapist has some tender spots, and I'm always afraid to bring things up that touch them. But in the end, although I'm careful how I word things, I do trust him enough to come clean. And I forgive his occasional lapses. And I know that even if he gets angry with me, he won't terminate me over it. Even if he thinks I could do better in certain areas, he won't despise me overall. And even if he sometimes thinks I'm crazy as a loon (grin), he still has my best interests in mind.
But that level of trust was built up by my taking chances. For the first five years, our therapeutic relationship was not strong. I constantly tested him, but seldom risked much.
poster:Dinah
thread:1523
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20021109/msgs/1539.html