Quote:
Originally Posted by corbie
This is technically true, but kind of similar to saying "why don't you just leave" to someone in an abusive situation. I mean, you go into details later, so I get that's not what you mean, but ... still felt the need to point this out. So long as the client is in the throes of an intense transference, that autonomy and agency is more of a distant goal than something that can be reasonably expected of them, especially if they have to summon it up despite the therapist's 'help'.
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No I didn't mean that. I don't always express myself very well. I'm sorry for any offence. I wasn't saying that people should just leave a traumatic therapy - or any other - relationship. I know it's not that simple. I know firsthand how painful transference can be and how it feels pretty much impossible to see beyond the agony of the attachment. It's just that it was helpful to me to keep reminding myself that I had a choice even when it felt like I didn't. It clearly doesn't work for everyone though due to the damaging therapy situations that people have been in, on top of whatever issues were already there. I know therapy pulls you into a dynamic where seeing any kind of choice can be impossible, especially when the therapist causes emotional harm through not dealing with the client's transference well. I'm sorry for the trauma people have been left with as a result of this and don't intend to minimalise it.