Quote:
Originally Posted by Topiarysurvivor
Therapists are trained to respond ethically even to SEDUCTION by their clients. They take an oath.
There is no way that any client enters into a relationship with a therapist with trully informed consent.
Therapists who do this very gradually groom their victims - pushing boundary after boundary. Until the final leap into the relationship is only a tiptoe over a threshold. Just like a sex offender luring a child - building trust, stretching reality, isolating the victim . The therapist has listened to the client for hours- and knows exactly buttons to push to manipulate the client's feelings.
I don't know that anything that I say will change your position, but I need to make sure that people who have experienced abuse at the hands of the person who they should have been able to trust most - their therapist, hear that the client, while a participant , doesn't share blame.
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Exactly! As I read the OP, it reminded me of how it felt to be seduced by my stepfather when I was an adolescent. After the abuse was over (it went on for 6 years), I, too, had mixed emotions. The shame and guilt I felt was only made worse by my mother, who knew what was happening but never fully acknowledged it. She also blamed me. What finally helped me to put the blame where it belonged was a therapist who told me, "He was the adult. You were the child. I don't care if you would have
asked him to do that. IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT."
LizzieVale, the dynamics of what happened with you and your therapist are, in my opinion, the same as sexual abuse of a child. There is an inherent imbalance of power and responsibility. You were vulnerable. You received some good things from him. I received some good things from my stepfather. I felt loved, accepted, attractive, and worthwhile. It took a lot of healing for me to realize that I was not to blame, and that my mixed feelings about him were to be expected. I hope you find the peace and healing you deserve, and that you will NOT blame yourself.