Quote:
Originally Posted by Echos Myron
If you choose to tell him, it's important you don't expect him to reciprocate. It would be completely unethical for him to do so. So please don't take his lack of reciprocation as rejection, it is simply a sign that he is an ethical therapist.
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I think it depends what the T says and how it is delivered. It could end up being a profound rejection, as it was for me. I think it's important to recognize that the client in this situation might feel as though they have been enticed into these feelings, and then advised that such feelings cannot be gratified. A bit like a cruel practical joke.
The feelings are possibly nothing more than what they appear to be, but will possibly be objectified and made into a clinical entity to be studied and deconstructed, which for me was distressing and alienating.
I had real feelings for my T, and also was projecting old longings, given the vaguely maternal role she was playing. She immediately labeled it all transference, probably an attempt to make it go away. Didn't work.
OP: I relate to your predicament and I feel for you.