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Old Feb 01, 2015, 09:21 AM
Anonymous50122
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Quote:
Originally Posted by archipelago View Post
I am really sorry you had this experience, and on many different levels and times. It pains me to read. This is the problem with approaches that are either neutral or hyper professional or whatever is the rationale for not being human in the relationship.

I also do psychoanalytic therapy and study it. This form that advocates neutrality has become almost obsolete nowadays. No one believes that being neutral and non-responsive is beneficial. The movement is toward the opposite--to be very actively engaged, empathic, even self-disclosing. You would be better off with someone else. Perhaps when looking ask about their approach or questions that relate to how they work with the relationship. It is clear that you would work better with a more active therapist who was involved and responsive. They are out there. I'm sorry that you had to go through this.
It has never occurred to me that she was actively choosing to be neutral about my emotions. I did talk to her once about the fact that she didn't respond to my feelings, but she never said that this was intentional. If she had been explicit about it I think I might have accepted it. To me it feels like part of a bigger issue in that when I spoke to her she didn't probe to understand what I meant, she plunged straight in with a response or an analysis and I often felt really misunderstood as I had not had the chance to explain where I was coming from or what I was really trying to say. I discussed this with her, but I don't think she really listened and comprehended.