[QUOTE=ex vivo;4960736]. . . . But, someone in training to be a psychoanalyst spends years in intense therapy. By the time they are done, all of their transferences are worked through, enabling them to separate their feelings from those of the client. This prevents the reactivity I see happen so much here. (not that this training makes them completely immune from this).

I don't necessarily disagree with what you've posted, but I will say that even with years of therapy/psychoanalysis, no therapist is ever going to prevent their reactivity or separate their own emotions from those of their client. I think this is where many therapist fail. They truly believe that what's happening in the session is completely on the client because the emotions flying around the room can't possibly be due to their own personal feelings. It can't possibly be them because they worked through all that. Bullc#@*! The emotions flying around the room are produced by the dyad. Both people have a part in what's happening. Sometimes therapists get a bit arrogant and blinded by the power imbalance and that blindness is injurious to the clients. I find that I much more respect a therapist who says, "Hey, what just happened there? I feel like something shifted. What's your thoughts? I was feeling . . . . " That's honesty in the relationship.

I see a relational psychoanalyst and that's how she works. She isn't a blank slate, but she doesn't let her "outside" personal life contaminate what I'm working on in therapy. But she is very open to talk about what she's thinking and/or feeling when she's interacting with me. It's very refreshing, in my opinion.

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