Posted by daisym on July 21, 2004, at 19:48:21
In reply to Re: T questions-Joslynn, posted by pegasus on July 21, 2004, at 10:56:36
I worry a lot that I'm a difficult client. "What must you think" is an oft-uttered line. But I've never doubted his compassion or commitment to me.
I asked him once if he had ever had a child-abuser as a client. He thought about it a long time before he answered me and wanted to know why I wanted to know. I said I wondered how he could treat someone with compassion, knowing the pain we were dealing with, the pain they caused someone like me. He said he also wondered if under my question was another question, which is "can they get help and change?" But he said he has seen and heard so much over the years that he is rarely shocked and often touched by the things people bring into therapy. He said if he doesn't feel a connection to someone early on, he doesn't usually continue to treat them. But he also said if he finds something out during treatment, he doesn't abandon them either.
I think this must present so many challenges.
I'm glad he doesn't have a mask. If I don't want to see what he is feeling, I look out the window. But sometimes I need to see my pain reflected in his eyes to make it OK for me to feel it. Does that make any sense?
But he definitely has moods. Sometimes he is really playful -- for his birthday I gave him a card about a talking frog. Some time after that, we had a session where every subject was a dead end. He said, "We need the talking frog." I said, "What would he say?" He said, "Not a very ribbiting session." LOL
Then we spent 10 minutes talking about puns.
poster:daisym
thread:366576
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040716/msgs/368757.html