Quote:
Originally Posted by BudFox
I don't think therapists use transference as a tool necessarily. More like a basic belief system. Even if they don't utter the word. It's the primary filter thru which they run client thoughts, feelings, behaviors. When in doubt assume the client is projecting in some way.
Can be a means for subjugation and manipulation. It also adds layers of obfuscating BS on top of normal human interaction, and this can be used to justify the existence of the system, the payment, etc.
Society grants therapists the power to interpret the thoughts and feelings of other people. They can persuade someone in a weaker position that his/her own thoughts and feelings do not mean what they appear to mean. And only the therapist has access to the real meaning. They can also make those thoughts/feelings into a pathology if they choose. To me that is what psychotherapeutic "transference" is mainly about.
|
I understand what you are saying but my therapist actively works against this model. He has told me that he works on purpose to bring his genuine self into his interactions with clients because he wants to reduce the amount of room for transference. It's definitely not the filter through which he perceives our interactions.
And I get what you are saying about the level of authority often invested in therapists, but that has nothing to do with the way my therapist and I do therapy. We both tend to be fairly anti-authoritarian, and he in no way perceives himself as the expert on my thoughts and feelings. He doesn't hold onto a vision of himself as the one with the real meaning about anything in my life. Instead, he views himself as facing many of the same problems I do, since life is hard and as humans we all have a tendency to get stuck on things because of the way our brains work.
I actually think that the way he works is based on a rejection of much of the same model that you reject. Have you ever looked into the so-called "third-wave" therapies? Perhaps particularly the more Buddhist-influenced ones. I think some of their thinking would really resonate with you. Maybe take a look at what someone like Paul Gilbert says about the therapeutic relationship?
I would agree with some of your criticisms of the way therapy often works! But i have been lucky enough to find a therapist who works in a different way, and that really suits me.