Quote:
Originally Posted by PeeJay
My first therapist definitely left me worse off than I began. Though I could argue that I was already pretty hurt deep inside and all that therapist did was bring it all to the surface. I wasn't living fully to begin with.
The danger with therapists (for some of us) is that we let them into a vulnerable space in our lives, which gives them the power to hurt us pretty deeply.
But that's true of all people whom we let in - friends, lovers, teachers, even our children.
|
PeeJay, same here with my last T -- left me considerably worse off, but i was also already quite a mess and much of what happened was deep issues getting brought to surface. But my T also added new wounds on top of the old, by saying certain things that subtly heaped responsibility on me, created chaos, confusion.
It's true that letting anyone in is risky, but with Ts it is especially so because of the asymmetry (we are exposed and vulnerable and they are not, or much much less). And so they have enormous power and huge responsibility to wield it carefully. Having a client come out worse than before is a massive failure, and it seems clients have little recourse and not much support when this happens. My only recourse has been to stumble through a handful of Ts, only 1 of them seemingly understanding, the rest making me feel slightly worse. Makes me question the legitimacy of the entire enterprise.