Quote:
Originally Posted by puzzle_bug1987
What happens when you're seeing a therapist for the attachment and the warm fuzzy feelings (I don't mean this disrespectfully. I do understand that we need this in our lives. I just couldn't think of any other way to put it) and you have no goals and one day the therapist starts wondering where the therapy is going? What if they talk to a supervisor and they decide therapy isn't really going anywhere and there's no justification for continuing it? Maybe it isn't unethical, but are there many therapists who will just see someone who wants the relationship and nothing more? Or is that what we're talking about?
What about insurance companies? They want to see progress and they don't want to pay indefinitely for therapy. What if they do a review and decide the therapy isn't helping and they won't pay anymore? I can see that self pay has advantages, but some people can't do that and they rely on insurance companies.
I do think the relationship is important, but is it enough to keep going on and on? Is it unreasonable for the therapist and client to believe that one day therapy will end somehow? It can't just go on and on can it?
I don't know. I can see many different angles to "does therapy have to have goals" and I'm just not sure what is okay, so to speak. It's VERY, VERY confusing to me.  |
There are a lot of benefits to the therapy relationship that may not be explicitly spelled out here. It's not just about the "warm" feelings of the relationship-- it's how the relationship is helpful and extends to the client's life outside of therapy. It's different for everyone but, for me, it's a repairative experience for what I did not have as a child. Therapy is the first time I have ever experienced support or unconditional positive regard-- where the other person doesn't need/want anything from me. Receiving that from T has "filled" some of the void that I have had my whole life because I never had a mom or caregiver who loved me or took care of me or was "in my corner." Receiving that in therapy has made me more grounded, made me more confident, made me calmer, made me happier, and me choose to become more emotionally intimate with the people in my RL. These are all benefits of therapy, but they were never goals that I set out to accomplish. They were not "problems" before; but they are benefits I enjoy. My T thinks therapy has been-- and still is-- very beneficial for me. She would not "kick me out" just because I am not struggling with specific problems that need fixing. She understands the benefits of this kind of therapy.
I cannot speak to other people's insurance or therapy practices but, for me, my insurance does not require me to have "goals" or demonstrate tangible "progress." My T is also in private practice and, therefore, does not have a supervisor.