Quote:
Originally Posted by skies
That's not necessarily true, and certainly not with many psychoanalytic therapists. My Ts use transference/countertransference as a tool for therapy. The T can also learn about the patient by examining the countertransference. It can very much help them identify enactments as well, and it does have to do with the therapy.
A therapist might choose to tell a patient how they feel around them for many reasons. For one, it can help them identify patterns and provide insights about the patient's interpersonal relationship dynamics.
That my T told me he felt like rescuing me and the discussion that ensued explained a lot about my past relationship dynamics!
afterthought - Lauliza, I think you're really intelligent and really sweet and hope that you don't think i'm picking on you. It's just that I notice you make a lot of definitive, blanket statements about therapy that just are not true as you state them. I realize what you are saying might be what you are being taught and it is probably true for some therapists, but you state things as if they are facts applicable to all therapy.
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Sorry if I sound like a know it all, that's not my intention. And I know I am speaking generalities and understand that it is not applicable to certain forms of therapy, especially psychoanalysis. I'm going to be honest and say I rarely consider psychoanalysis when I'm making statements about therapy. These days, at least in the northeast, insurance does not cover traditional psychoanalysis, so it is not commonly used like it once was. In a lot of other therapies, countertransference is usually worked through with the T and their supervisor. A T telling a client how they feel about them can be very helpful. But countertransference is different, and a lot of therapists just don't go into it too deeply. And many clients don't want a T to go there because therapy is suppposed to be about them. Plus, with many therapy benefits being 8-12 sessions a year in some cases, clients just don't have the time.