HT Thank you for the article. I read it with interest.

It is almost like in order to function, T's must believe patients are improving, and have cognitive distortions of their own ( just called "silver linings"here) . Seen that way, it is like if a patient is struggling to the point of breaking through that distortion, the therapist is threatened in the core part of where they find motivation if they are not resourceful and trained to deal with what the client brings into the room.

I too am on the difficult end, but my T has spent a career dealing with horrific stories and seeing people recover ( PTSD). I think he brings that tolerance for emotional stress to me ( CPTSD) so he can handle downturns, even steep ones( red feedback) without losing sight of an overall future story arc in which he succeeds and I get better . In this case, the experience of succeeding gives the T some tolerance of apparent failure without throwing in the towel.

I dont think you would be in that 5-10 percent if you had my T, or a T like that able to tolerate a long red challenge to silver lining thinking for an extensive time and stay emotionally present and creative. I also think if I went to the T you describe you went to see, I would be the 5-10 percent, instead of now gaining ground. I do not think you failed therapy or that all of Therapy failed you, but I think your specific therapy failed you big time.

It is not you.

All of this is to say I don't think it is something about you, HT, but about the specific T(s).