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ECHOES said:
A short time ago, I wouldn't have understood this but I do now. (Remember when I kept insisting that your T couldn't "feel your feelings". Sorry--ignorance then too!! I get that now too!)

I'm glad for the here-and-now self-disclosure. It makes the relationship much richer and real to me. I'm hard of hearing and it is a big issue with me but others don't understand much about it, or care to. But my T makes every attempt to and sometimes when we're talking about something unrelated she will comtemplate for a minute and say "I'm just thinking about how the hearing difficulty would come into play or by affected in this and what that would feel like." Other times she has told me how she's feeling about something I've told her. It just feels so good! It reinforces the feeling of 'being heard'.

I've experienced the opposite end of the spectrum too, the "blank slate" and it's very lonely.

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Awesome post, Echoes. It's so cool that you have made that progress, to be able to recognize when your is is experiencing your feelings with you. And as much as I was insisting that my T could feel along with me, I still saw him as a 'blank slate.' I didn't realize that he really was self-disclosing by making me aware of his emotions in the here-and-now. I can say now that he definitely isn't 'blank.' I think I still see as an object, though. But a colorful one, LOL. But that's a whole other post.

I have therapy today, on SATURDAY. I normally have it on Fridays, but he told me that he had a conference (ooooooh, personal self-disclosure), so he rescheduled for Saturday. I imagine that the difference of days will effect the vibe of the session... I am thinking it will be a more relaxed vibe.... normally I am rushing from work, hoping that I'll make it on time, battling city traffic to get there. Today I will leisurely take the bus or subyway, it will be after my poetry workshop.... It will feel different.... wonder if I'll talk more.... we'll see.