One day, I walked into therapy and T gave me a casual compliment to the effect of "you look pretty today"- which she does every so often. I never gave it a second thought. But then, about 10 minutes later, T looked very uncomfortable and started explaining, at a million miles a minute, that she had not been hitting on me, that she had not intended the compliment in "that" way, and that she did not look at me "like that." She said she wanted to "check it out with me" to make sure I had not gotten the wrong impression. I hadn't. The sheer possibility that T could ever feel an attraction to a client (particularly me) had been utterly unfathomable until that moment. There was no need whatsoever for T to clarify the situation. But, she did, so I just said: "yeah, I know. I wasn't concerned. I don't think of you 'like that' either." Then we went back to normal therapy. However, this conversation has come up a few times since then. Awkward!

Another time, after describing to T the characteristics I find attractive in another person, I casually asked her what characteristics she finds attractive. She told me. Finding it humerous that her preferences were so diametrically opposed to my own, I laughed and said: "So the opposite of me." She interpreted my comment to mean the opposite of "me" rather than the opposite of "my preferences" (which is also true). And, she must of thought that this somehow offended me, because she scrambled to say: "It's not that you're not lovely. I mean, you are lovely. I mean, it's just that..." I cut her off, saying: "It's okay. I'm not the least bit offended that you don't find me sexy." Hey, awkward comments sometimes call for more awkward responses! Luckily, making her laugh calmed the situation down, and we resumed normal therapy.

Another time, while talking to T about my sex life with the person I was dating, I was on a roll and said "hey, what can I say? I like my women tied to my bed!" The look on Ts face betrayed utter shock and horror. For someone who sends her less adventurous clients to the sex shop down the street for vibrators, she really should be able to handle the fact some of her other clients know how to use a pair of handcuffs.

Now for my list of embarassing T body moments:

One day, I noticed T had pit stains. It totally grossed me out. No hug that day!

On more than one occassion, while wearing a skirt, T has crossed and re-crossed her legs, revealing her T undies. NOT something I ever wanted to see. I just maintained consistent eye contact and avoided any further unsolicited sightings.

Another time, while talking to T about a necklace someone had given me, I happened to notice the necklace T was wearing. I kept staring at it in an attempt to make out the symbol on it. After awhile, I noticed she was looking at me kind of funny. I didn't realize it until then, but Ts necklace was situated right inbetween her breasts. I think she thought I was staring at her chest instead of at her necklace. Oops.

One day, when I got up to leave therapy, T asked me what my shirt said. She said: "I'd been wondering about it all session, but I didn't want to stare, because it's written right across your breasts." I'm very fortunate that I stopped myself before I said the first thought that popped into my head, which was: "You could have just read it anyway. I don't care if you stare at my breasts because I know you don't like them like that." (Note conversation above).

Another time, I was talking about being embarassed about having worn my glasses to therapy (I usually wear contacts). I kept talking about how ugly my glasses are, how much glasses suck, it. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I realized T wears glasses and she was looking highly offended. I wanted to say something right away but I knew that, if I did, it would inevitably come out wrong, soemthing like: "oh no, I didn't mean yours, I mean, you look pretty in glasess, I mean, you are pretty, I mean, not like pretty "like that," I mean"... I'm terrible at digging myself out of holes.

So, wat can I say...T and I have had our share of awkward moments. But, she's T, I think she's awesome, and I feel safe with her-- so I guess I wouldn't have it any other way.