I always strive to connect more with my T, and he certainly does the same with me. We don't have to really try hard at all really. We are a good fit and he's a real help. Here's my worry: I've come to a place in my life where I am ready and ABLE for the first time to work on some long-standing issues that are hard to disclose. Now that my life is not the chaos it once was and I'm not having to deal with pressing current event situational issues, I can work on the harder topics. This makes me feel happy that I'm not only at a point where it is possible to do this, but also that I have found the courage to do it. Even though we have MANY shared things in common that certainly help with the necessary bonding that makes the therapeutic alliance work, we have some major differences in background that makes me unsure if he will be able to truly UNDERSTAND what I'm going to discuss with him.

I come from poverty and a broken home. I grew up with a lot of adversity that my T didn't have and sometimes I don't think that people who grow up without adversity can really understand what it is like to have my experiences. Sometime after I started seeing T, I discovered that my T's parents were, well... sorta famous. He grew up in a loving, supportive home (that of course had its own problems like all families), the son of two very well known, well published academics and authors that won major awards in their lifetimes. I can see how he got his academic drive and why he is a successful therapist, but I sometimes get doubts. His parents are both deceased now, but the idea that he could possibly understand where I'm coming from (poverty, broken home, abuse) sometimes stops me from going too deep for fear that he might not get me, and I don't want to feel those feelings...I also don't want my possible perception that he doesn't "get me" to interfere with our excellent therapeutic relationship/alliance.

I am probably concerned about this too much. Surely my insecurities revolving around class and socioeconomic status runs very deep and is worth talking about in therapy! I guess I'm looking for courage and strategies to open up about this without shattering my self confidence. If anybody has similar experiences, I'd like to hear how you dealt with that.