Posted by pinkeye on April 12, 2005, at 16:16:12
In reply to Re: I'm regressing :-( » pinkeye, posted by messadivoce on April 12, 2005, at 15:45:42
My guess is that your father probably just simply took up more than he could handle. He was probably a decent and normal person to start with, but then maybe he took on a job which was much more emotionally demanding and draining than what he was capable of handling. Maybe he tried to give to others beyond what he was capable of giving, and in that process, depleted himself of his own resources, and failed to recogonize that and stop.
I can see how it could easily happen to all people in the more "giving" kind of profession.. They might do all the giving outside, and may not realize that they have used up their internal sources of strength. When anybody goes into this kind of giving profession, like a therapist or a minister, they need to somehow establish a way to replenish themselves adequately - either from God or from other means - otherwise, they will deplete themselves and try to find it from other places which are not right. I bet your father even expected to fulfill his emotional needs from you, and maybe even expected you to be his source of strenght and energy and be there for him. My own dad did that with me. He expected me to be his partner and comapnion and even to an extent fulfill his own mother kind of role.
poster:pinkeye
thread:483154
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050409/msgs/483419.html