Quote:
Originally Posted by AncientMelody
You chose the profession, suck it up if you're stalked??? Wow.
There is a realm beyond black and white that allows for the understanding that the client is suffering and perhaps needs adjustment in treatment while still realizing that a therapist has a right to their privacy and personal life and does not deserve to be stalked. I'm not talking about dangerous therapists who deliberately manipulate clients beyond the brink, but your run of the mill therapist. that you cannot see that these truths can both exist at the same time is unfortunate. Stalking can be scary for not just the individual but the individual's family, if they get wrapped up in it. So the therapist's spouse and kids are just asking for it. They chose to have a therapist family member right?
A one-off catching a glimpse of the T in public is one thing. but you seem to think it's acceptable to cruise by a T's house too. Really? No. That is not just the T's home oftentimes. It is their spouse, their kids, their roomates home too and THEY deserve privacy even if you think the therapist needs to check that at the door the day they stepped into this profession.
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I never said anything about clients cruising by a T's house. I also did not say Ts should just suck it up if they are stalked. You might want to read posts more carefully.
My suggestion was that Ts should be prepared for obsessive behavior in general from clients, since therapy clearly brings this out. And if they are not prepared they are in the wrong job. That is not the same as giving the client free reign. I said this in part because OP only sat in the car one time, and yet some people here labeled it stalking, which I presume to be a reflection of prevailing attitudes among therapists and therapy culture.
Also seems that obsessive impulses from clients are frequently framed as client pathology, and clients are blamed and demonized. But in truth it MIGHT be that a natural response to the extremes of a "normal" therapy relationship: love bombing, intense attention and attunement for a very brief period, followed by total separation for a comparatively long period.
**In other words, I contend that the pathology or dysfunction might be in the relationship, this manifests in client behavior, and then the client gets blamed. This could be the worst and most toxic sort of victim blaming.**
The mature and ethical thing to do is look at BOTH client and therapist behavior to see what is contributing to this. The other ethical thing to do is have a discussion up front (informed consent) where the therapist explains that it is common and gives it some context BEFORE it arises. Seems this rarely happens.
BTW, the way you quoted my post it looks like I said something that I did not. Appreciate if you could fix this.