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Originally Posted by IWonderIf
Umm... ahem. Say what? 'scuse me!
Don't forget potential restraining order for stalking if it continued.
I never did an internship or practice that required home visitation.
Be glad all she did was terminate you. What is described here not only crossed client / therapist relationship boundaries, it also sounds like it pushed some criminal and civil liability ones - and I don't mean by the therapist.
"Never let the client get between you and the closest point of exit." If someone is unstable enough to talk seriously about killing themselves... when asked do they have a plan... when they say, "Yes, I've got 8 guns in my car," you politely excuse yourself and seek backup. If someone is talking in session about "erotic" attachment and then goes on Facebook to stalk / manipulate their own therapist...
Look folks. There are rules and there is decency. How would you like it if your therapist took to Facebook and "impersonated" you?
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I understand that Psychiatry/therapy is considered to be a fairly dangerous profession. I know one therapists personally she was stalked to the point of needing a restraining order.
That being said, I do happen to think there are times where situations like online stalking can be worked out with the client and T together. In the age of Facebook, someone who would never engage in stalking behavior in the real world can easily find themselves doing in it online. If you are not aware of how common it is then you are very naive. Facebook and instagram has turned everyone into a stalker in one way or another. Behind a keyboard there is a sense of anonymity that allows regular people to do really crazy things. Some escalate, but I think most don't. Yes the OP violated a boundary, but to his credit he was honest which should say something about his intent and his character. He didn't threaten her, he was impulsive and then tried to rectify it. Clients in therapy often have relationship as well as impulse control issues of some sort, and what happened with the OP and his T is a perfect example of how they can spiral a little out of control given the opportunity. I'd think it would be a good way to explore what the OP was feeling when he did what he did and how he felt after. If it happened outside the confines of therapy, it could have been much worse. Isn't it a T's job to help the OP deal with this mistake and try to learn from it??? Now if he chose not to deal with it, or the T felt something was off or things got worse, then that is different. But I'd give it a few sessions at least and see what happened from there.
The OP's T felt strongly that she needed to terminate because his feelings for her interfered with therapy, then she did the right thing. But she did it in an unprofessional, not so nice way.
If a T is THAT afraid of clients, and internet "stalking" is freaks them out that much, then I would look for a different career. You need to take precautions when dealing with a certain population, just like criminal attorneys, cops and teachers do. This is not victim blaming, it is common sense.