Quote:
Originally Posted by BudFox
But other "services" do not put the client's emotional and psychological well-being on the line. Therapy is different, unique. And the power imbalance requires the one with the power to wield it with utmost care.
And if anything requires utmost care it is the decision to cut someone off cold turkey who has formed an attachment or dependence, and might have come into the process already in real distress. In my case I was suffering from chronic illness, depression, sudden loss of family members, and social isolation.
It is true that a T might legitimately find themselves in a situation where they can't help. But continuing in some fashion, or tapering off, or taking a break MIGHT be the lesser of two evils compared to abrupt termination. Also, if the T cannot handle it or does not want to, then they have failed. It is their job and they are paid for it, and this should be acknowledged as part of termination and transition.
If a surgeon cut you open and got to the core wound or disease, and then said they could not go any further, it would be malpractice, because it is assumed they would not have opened the wounds in the first place if they were not equipped to handle it. Human emotions are bit more complex than that, but seems a fairly apt analogy.
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I totally agree on the special unique nature of therapy service and that when therapy was going on for a long time and resulted in development of strong attachment to and dependence on the therapist, termination should never be done abruptly and the client should never be left high and dry without an assistance in making a smooth transition to a new therapist.
The problem, however, as I see it, is precisely the strong attachment and dependency that IMO is completely unnecessary and can be avoided if therapy is conducted differently from how it's been conducted from the birth of the field. While many people clearly have strong propensity to get attached to therapists because of their unmet emotional needs, I would argue that therapists' behavior and methods they use contribute greatly into development of strong attachment. Many methods taught in training encourage dependency on a therapist, and I don't think it's helps. Clients are made to believe that somehow through that dependency they would be able to get their emotional cravings satisfied and to compensate for what they weren't given in childhood. This is the grand illusion being sold by therapists and happily bought by many clients because human nature is such that it's easier to believe a beautiful fairy tale than to accept reality as it is.
So, it's not the termination that is a major problem, but the ways in which therapy is done. If it was done differently, terminations wouldn't be so difficult.