My blank-slate therapist will bait me by saying she's going to "be away." Then she looks at me and waits for me to ask where she's going. If I do, she smiles meaningfully and gives a vague answer like, "Florida" or "California." I used to ask who she was traveling with or if she was visiting someone, but she always made a huge deal about what my asking said about me. I found it completely stupid. After all, if anyone else (say, my optometrist or neighbor or Pilates instructor) said they were going to be away, I think it's entirely normal--and in fact probably expected--to say, "Oh, where are you off to?"

Anyway, her blank-slatedness angers and agitates me to no end. But I refuse to give in and let her know how badly I'm dying to know where she's going; I pretend I don't care. As an aside, her unwillingness to reveal the most inconsequential of details tends to inhibit my sharing as well. For example, I will tell her I can't make next week's appointment but I refuse to say why, or I'll wait until I return from vacation to tell her that I was gone. If she were even minimally open with me, I'd be far more willing to open up to her. It's a terrible dynamic and I hate it.