Posted by m3 on November 13, 2002, at 21:33:38
...and client feels pathologized, patronized, and misunderstood. (shocking, I know)
So I've complained about money issues and job issues to my shrink for the past few weeks, but I didn't expect her to come at me tonight with a suggestion I go to Debtors Anonymous. For one thing, my money problems don't have to do with excessive debt or compulsive spending, and for another I feel like it's kind of a strong suggestion, in that I don't feel free to turn it down without getting judged (i.e. I think she will conclude I am in denial). I tried to express some of this to her, but she said something about "holding up a mirror to my difficulty" that gave me the impression she really wasn't hearing me and had already concluded that I need DA.
So I'm wondering if I'm just way overreacting and her suggesting a 12-step program really isn't a big deal. Or if I am in fact in denial and denying that I'm in denial, and I'd better stop there or my head will start to hurt. It just seems like the classic 12-step catch-22 to me: if I deny that I need Whatever Anonymous, then I must really need Whatever Anonymous. Argh!
Has anyone had a similar experience? Was the shrink (or whoever) eventually proven right?
poster:m3
thread:1544
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20021109/msgs/1544.html