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Riptide said:
Also, as far as the hippo. I would be %$@$ too, because obviously you needed the "transitional object" and instead of focusing on it, he should have been focusing on helping you not need it and the strength of your relationship.

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I apologize if this because too psychoanalytical, but I'm just thinking of your situation in terms of this--

A transitional object only becomes transitional once the receiver of the object assigns meaning to it.

For example, when my T went on vacation, he gave me some jazz CDs and a book. I assigned the book as my 'little girl' item and ended up sleeping with it more than actually reading it. I assigned the CDs as the 'I hate you for leaving' objects and ended up not being able to listen to them because they represented the hate that I felt towards T. By ignoring the CDs I felt as though I was ignoring him and giving him a piece of my mind. By sleeping with the book, I felt as though I was holding him.

I don't think the issue is about the hippo. It is about the meaning you assigned to the hippo. I think by taking the hippo to the ER, you were taking a piece of your T. By him asking for the hippo back, in a sense, he was asking for a piece of himself back from you. I don't necessarily think that your T is a jackass for asking for it back, as he did put out this guideline when you first took it-- but I don't think that is the issue-- I think it might be important to discuss the underlying meaning of what happened there.

As far as how your T handled the whole thing, as far as the dialogue that you wrote out-- Well, I understand why he would be angry. I don't think he necessarily think he went about it in the right way. By talking about he staff, it is possible that he was trying to get you to consider the implications of your actions on others, but I don't think it was the time or the correct way to go about that.

Like my T would say, "It's not good, it's not bad, it just is..." And I urge you to forge on to therapy on Tuesday and begin to deal with things with your T as they are. What happened was part of therapy. I think it is important to treat it like that instead of focusing on who wants to terminate who.

Good luck with your session on Tuesday. Please try to keep yourself safe.