This thread has reminded me - I once had a T who mentioned another client during our session, and it was just awful. I was telling him about my endless problems with my father, and out of frickin' nowhere, he said to me:

"I just saw a guy, a young boy, who has an abusive father. The other day his father was acting chummy and pleasant, and he told his son to come closer. He put his arm around the boy, and then you know what he did? He punched him in the nose and broke his nose."

So I'm sitting there, going WTFing' F????

It was a horrible story. My heart was pounding as I was sitting there staring at my therapist. I had no doubt that it was true.

But I wondered, WHY is he telling me this? Is he showing me what people with REAL problems go through? The endless bickering of my passive-aggressive asshat of a misogynist father was just, well, NOTHING next to what this other kid had gone through?

I felt:

shocked
marginalized
dehumanized
dismissed
humliated
cut down
put in my place

And about a jillion other things. It was about twenty years ago that that happened, and I'm still steamed! I fantasize regularly about meeting up with that guy - I live in the area where he had told me years ago he was planning to retire - and telling him what I think. I wonder if I would actually have the courage to confront him! (sigh) Probably not, but it's a good fantasy...