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Old Dec 26, 2018, 12:23 PM
Lrad123 Lrad123 is offline
Poohbah
 
Member Since: Nov 2017
Location: United States
Posts: 1,332
Quote:
Originally Posted by octoberful View Post
The way your T works brings these transference feelings to the surface with intensity. Your T works similar to mine, so I think exploring these feelings with your T would likely result in your being as 'perfect' of a client as you can be. Talking about and exploring instead of acting out...

You have discussed feeling abandoned by your T, which in some ways might parallel feeling abandoned by your father. These feelings may manifest in other areas of your life. People pleasing and need for approval are common, but prevent you from being you and instead, leave you enmeshed with others where what others do or feel defines who you are. If your T remains neutral and non-reactive while exploring these feelings, your sense of self and psychological boundaries can be solidified or defined appropriately.

I don't think trying to be the ideal client will work. Why not talk about wanting to be the ideal client, just as you did here? It sounds like you are getting at core issues.
I don’t see him for another week, but , yes, I agree that talking about wanting to be the perfect client makes sense.

Here’s a dumb question for you. When you talk about “exploring these feelings” with my T, what exactly does that mean? Today we talked about it briefly, but then it seemed like we were done. So, how would one explore it more? I sort of asked my T and I think he said we were talking about thoughts and not the feelings. I’m not sure I really understand. I’m also not really sure how to keep that conversation going so that it feels satisfying and “worked through.”