Quote:
Originally Posted by DP_2017
Without too much detail... my T randomly tells me yesterday in session that he is leaving today for 2 weeks. No outside contact. (partly due to where he is going because it's one of those places T's sometimes go to cut off the world and partly due to his boss insisting that he cut off all work related stuff for 2 weeks)
I'm struggling so much with the sudden-ness. He told me he was going away but said mid august and said a week. We have had outside contact in some form every week since we met. This is a massive routine change which I struggle with and with my anxiety, I'm convinced already that he's gonna forget me and ban me from ever having outside contact again. I feel like I'm being punished.
I am very independent, always have been. I've spent a lifetime learning to cope alone, so it's not that I can't. In my own ways, I can. I've got no choice really... but he's also the most supportive person in my life and I care deeply about him. I feel like I've had yet another death in my life.
I'm very concerned that he will forget me while he is away.... only remembering me when he sees my name on the calendar in 2 weeks and silently sighs to himself. I'm concerned we wont ever have outside contact again which has been very helpful to me in building and maintaining the trust and comfort. Normally he understands my fear of something happening to him and is more than willing to check in to let me know he's ok. This time it's like he basically is saying "Well, too bad, F you and good luck" I feel so worthless.
Anyway... how to I stop these thoughts since I can't discuss them with him? How do I somehow keep the connection that already feels like it's fading?
I get that he had no choice, he was forced to go NOW by his boss, stress related and that's why she is insistant on cutting off work but knowing that all I am to him is "Work" is the worst feeling.
We didn't talk much about it because I was so blindsided. He was kind and kept me late, tried to give me as much info as possible about this trip to ease my fear of him dying, and gave me something to take for 2 weeks that is special to us, he even texted me after session something funny and a goodbye, see you in 2 weeks type thing. He told me had me last intentionally so I was the last one he saw before he left and he has me on his first day back, that's great but 2 weeks is so long. I cant help but think without our usual routine, this bond we have created, the trust, everything will just die. I can't help but think of how worthless I am to him that he can't and wont check in with me even once. I see so many people here who get that when their T's go on break and mine has always been so good to me with that, so it just feels intensly personal.
I mean I get that he needs this break, I hope it helps him, I really do, but I also can't help how shocking and painful the sudden-ness is.... if he had given me a few days notice, I could have prepared more and had things written out to say, but I just sat there, crying and in a daze....mostly saying nothing important. Now I'm filled with regret.
I just need some reassurance on my worries about things with us and some advice on how to keep the connection going, or try to. I feel like someone stabbed me in the heart.
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I'm so sorry you're going through this, DP. Let me say that I'm going through the same thing with my T (not to lessen the impact this is having on you). My T will be away for the first two weeks in November and just told me yesterday that he would be gone for another weeks' vacation in August. Like your T, mine is well aware of how anxious/depressed I become when he's gone. Also being an independent person all my life, this feels like a black hole to me. We used to have out-of-session contact at my discretion, but he didn't respond to the last two texts. I only text him when I'm feeling self-destructive, so it isn't over use of the privilege.
Two weeks is a long time. If your T had given you more notice, I would have suggested you ask him if seeing someone else while he's gone would be an option...just someone to fill what's going to be an empty place in your life and therapy. (You responded to my post on this subject not long ago...

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My thoughts are that your T is not going to forget you. He may not think of you every day, but I'm a believer that Ts think of their clients more than we might expect. It's interesting that you feel he's saying, "Well, too bad, F you and good luck". Hmmm...that's what I told my T yesterday. I have another appt. before my T leaves for the week in Aug., so I have more time. Nothing you posted was new to me...I have feared and felt all of it. It hasn't gotten easier for me, but it sounds like you and your T are connected and close now. His time away isn't going to change that. Perhaps you can think that his time away from work is in your favor due to the fact that your T will be more rested and a better T for his clients. I think the suddenness of his leave is regretable, but it sounds like he had no choice.
Feel free to PM me if you need more time to talk...though I have more time before my T leaves for only a week, my appt will be painful and I'll feel he deserted me.
I'm so sorry...