I dissociated once at home - totally unresponsive, frozen - he spent half an hour on the phone with my husband and daughter - helping them bring me back to being able to talk, move again, then gave hubby his cell phone # and told him to call any hour day/night if it happened again.

Another time I SI in my car in his parking lot after a session. He noticed my car was still there, came out, asked me if I needed to be hospitalized, walked me back inside and cancelled his next client so he could talk with me until the ambulance got there. He was calm, warm and caring when I was frightened and so upset I could barely talk.

I've been with him six years. In the early years, I threatened suicide/self harm several times, and he was always available by phone to talk me through the crisis. He was comforting, soft spoken, never judgmental and always managed to talk me down.

There have been more instances like this - he's never let me down. He's ALWAYS been available when I've reached out in a crisis. And in letting me be dependent in the early years, I learned what it felt like to trust, to be vulnerable. This led to opening up my past, and eventual healing. And yes, I also dealt with CSA - he was my rock, my safe place during this entire journey. I knew he would be because of the way he dealt with these other situations - with tact, caring and compassion.