Quote:
Originally Posted by confused_77
This is a brilliant article, thanks the sharing. I do agree with it. My thread title does use the words 'therapeutic relationship' because it was the easiest way to name the whole area of topics. it's not a relationship as such, if anything 'a professional relationship' but what i want to discuss is exactly what the article mentions, my preoccupation with therapy and therapist that has never been encouraged.
It is very easy to form an attachment to someone who is kind and who gives you undivided attention. it's like a drug. i started off wanting to sort my life out and now all i want from therapy is her attention and approval. something has clearly gone wrong and i either quit or talk about it... this is what this post is about...
i dont know how to bring it up.
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When you mentioned preoccupation with therapy and therapist and that therapy can become like a drug, I immediately thought of another article I wrote precisely on this topic. Here it is
Can Therapy Become an Addiction?
I suffered from the same thing. I do believe that the preoccupation you describe is a real addiction, no less real than addiction substances.
And, unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that this problem will get resolved through talking with the therapist about it. I've been there, done that. Didn't help at all. I've known other people who've been there, done that. The same result. See, therapists don't recognize this as an addiction and as something to be considered a serious problem. I hate to be pessimistic and discouraging, but, based on my experience and the experience of every person I know who had the same problem, when you try to address it and to resolve it with the therapist, not only it doesn't go anywhere, but many times it gets worse. Therapists are not trained to recognize your experience as a problem. They are trained to think that this is a normal part of the "process", which it is NOT. So, most likely, if you try to address it with the therapist, you'd be left feeling misunderstood and invalidated, which only makes the situation worse..I am sorry that I don't have a more optimistic insight to share, but to me this seems to be the dark reality of the issue you are describing..