(((sister)))
</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
sister said:Last week, I had a long conversation with him about connection and disconnection and I felt like I couldn't bear the separation between sessions. We talked about my worries that he will disappear. Now, I feel like I don't have anything to say to him when I see him. Am I just protecting myself?

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">
sister, it sounds like you had a great conversation with your T last time about the impending separation. You dealt with a lot of your pain then and talked about the connection/disconnection cycle and your abandonment fears. Could it be that maybe you do have nothing more to say to him on this topic? That you dealt with it thoroughly last time and don't need to go over the same feelings again? There is nothing wrong with that. If you feel you have dealt with this topic satisfactorily (sometimes there is no point in revisiting the same subject again and again), then could you go to therapy and talk about something else? If that is impossible (with the separation looming, maybe there is nothing else to say right now), then maybe you actually don't need to see him this week, since you did all the work related to the separation last week? If that is the case, maybe you could just call him for a brief chat and share that idea with him and see what he says.

Another idea would be that if you feel you can simply draw comfort from his presence but have nothing more to say on the separation subject and don't want to start new work, you could ask him some questions and he could talk. I have done that before, and have found that just his telling me stuff is comforting to me and I don't have to do any active work. Like maybe I'll ask about his training and background, or his house search, or the latest artwork he's purchased, or any revisiting of a topic we have touched on before. I take such comfort in my T's presence that just the sound of his voice can be therapeutic, so it really wouldn't matter what he chose to share.