Quote:
Originally Posted by puzzle_bug1987
I believe they do have expectations of us. It would be different for each client, but it doesn't make sense for them to not expect us to do anything. They can terminate a client if they feel they aren't helping that client. Don't you think they expect us to change eventually? They might not express this, but surely they don't want someone to just keep coming to see them on and on and never get well.
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Yes, I do think therapists look to see improvement and healing in their clients, and if how they are working with us isn't fostering that kind of healing, they might recommend we find a different therapist, a different type of therapy, etc., but you are tying that to an idea that the client has somehow done something wrong when actually those kinds of recommendations usually are because the therapist realizes what they are doing isn't working for the client, or that there is a mismatch between them, their modality of therapy, and the client's needs. That's a bit different than this discussion of "expectations".
Both my T and my pdoc suggested I might need to see someone else at one point when things seemed to be going the wrong direction. They didn't do that because I wasn't meeting their "expectation"; they did that because they felt their treatment was coming up short for me and they wanted me to get the right help. I stayed with my therapist, and my pdoc sent me for further testing and a 2nd opinion to be sure he was on the right track. It wasn't about me coming up short; it was about them wanting to be sure I was receiving the right assistance.