Quote:
Originally Posted by Shancan
Thanks for the reply ... I'm just so mad at this entire situation. And I know my T didn't cause this but I feel like he has stirred it all up and turned it into such a mess! He is well respected and came highly recommended and I opened up to him very easily. Too easily I think. I just don't know what is happening. And no, I don't know the difference between attachment and transference ... from what I read I thought they were the same. Today is just an unbelievably rough day.
I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.
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Do you think you can talk to your current T? There may be something he can do so that you don't feel so anxious. I don't know what your situation is...why you're in therapy, so perhaps something about your situation is making your reaction intolerable. I didn't intend to come across as being hard on you, and I apologize if it seemed that way. I tend to be a firm believer that giving the T a chance to help is preferable to simply changing Ts. But if you don't think you can work with this T, by all means, look for another.
The following definitions of attachment and transference are from a forum member here on PC. I hope this information helps:
Attachment is the emotional bond that the client has with the therapist. It can be secure, insecure ambilivant or insecure avoidant. A secure client feels safe in the knowledge the therapist is there for them and is able to experience a close, yet not clingy or overly dependent, bond with them as an important figure with which to do emotional work. but an insecure client generally distrusts the therapist and struggles to retain a sense of them as caring, consistent and there for them. This can be experienced either through clingyness or through avoidance of the emotional bond, shutting off feelings etc.
Transference can heavily influence attachment. It is basically the feelings and experiences and expectations that the client is transfering UPON the therapist from previous relationships. It can be conscious or unconscious, but usually the latter. So if a client experienced previous relationships as rejecting and not meeting their emotional needs, the client will assume or fear the therapist will react the same towards them. This results in an insecure attachment to the therapist.