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#26
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peaches, I think a small first step might be to learn more about SE therapy and discuss it with your T--its pros and cons, what is involved, the actual techniques, why she thinks it would help, etc. Perhaps your T could provide the education and point to good resources for you to learn more. If it were me, I might find this less threatening then going to see a new practitioner before I even knew if this therapy was something that appealed to me or that I thought could help. I think it is OK to just take things slow regarding the idea of doing SE. Sometimes my T has brought up topics or ideas I found very threatening or scary on some unconscious level, and I have abruptly changed the topic and not been able to talk about it for several sessions. I needed some time to process it on my own before he and I could discuss it. He was always very patient. (Or at least he acted that way. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
__________________
"Therapists are experts at developing therapeutic relationships." |
#27
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(((Peaches))),
Sorry I didn't post in this thread. I assume you've had your session today. How did it go? I hope you cleared up the issue with your T and that you feel better. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
#28
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Peaches, how are you doing? Have you had a chance to talk with t yet?
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#29
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I know I haven't responded to all the posts yet, but i wanted to give an update since I had my session last Wednesday. . .
When my t came out to the waiting room to get me, she looked sort of distressed and when we got ready to do our breathing exercise we always do, she said “I feel like I should ask if it’s OK to sit near you.” I told her it was fine for her to move up. So we did the exercise and then chatted a tiny bit. I think she was expecting me to be really angry with her, but I'd had time to calm down and get my bearings by then. She asked me, “How did you feel about my phone message?” I said, “Well, it’s probably true that I over-reacted. But I still think you were kind of mean.” She apologized if it sounded mean, but said she decided to end the discussion because she felt it had "gone on too long." I told her I wasn't sure how i went from feeling good to being so upset. I'd felt fine when i left the previous session, and it wasn't until i started thinking about her suggestion to investigate this other therapy that i got upset. The more i thought about it, the more I concluded that she must want to get rid of me. (When i asked her about it in an email and she denied it, I thought she was just backpeddling to save my feelings.) I told my t that I had somehow gotten sucked into a vortex of feeling horrible, and no matter what she said to reassure me she wasn't trying to get rid of me, I was sure i was right that she did. My thoughts kept circling around and i couldn't snap out of it. My t then said "That is exactly the reason why I left that phone message ("If you have questions, you can write them down and bring them in with you to your session, but as far as i'm concerned, this conversation is over and i will not respond to any more of your messages about it.") My t said she decided to end the discussion, to force an end to the spiral I was in. I told I understand now, and she apologized again if her message sounded mean. Then she said, “It was not, and has never been my intention for you to go see someone else. In fact, I’m beginning to think about retirement, and I'm considering how i can do that and still continue to be your therapist." She said she might retire from where she works and then go back to having her own private practice again. She said she would try to get onto my insurance plan as a provider. I said if she could not, I would pay out of pocket for therapy, but wouldn't only be able to see her 1 time per month. She said if so, she would work with me on a reduced fee. She told me “We have come a long way, but we still have a ways to go. I don’t want us to stop midstream.” I sat there in shock. I've always DREADED the day she decided to retire and we'd have to terminate. Whenever the subject of it came up, she would just say “Try not to worry about it. We will work through it together when the time comes.” She never indicated that she would continue being a therapist after she retired. So i never anticipated that after she retired, that i could still continue my therapy with her. This is so unexpected for me and feels like pennies from heaven. I'm feeling really fortunate that my t is not planning to terminate me when she retires. I always felt jealous of other patients whose therapists told them “You don’t have to leave therapy until you’re ready. You’ll be the one to decide when it’s time to go.” I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that. At some point, she’d retire whether I was ready or not. It was like a guillotine hanging over my head, the impending doom of abandonment. Now, maybe it's posible that I'll be able to finish healing and terminate when i am ready. It feels like a great opportunity that I never anticipated! On the other hand, I'm afraid to get my hopes up for fear something will throw a wrench in it. Just the idea of change makes me a little uneasy. |
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#30
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Peaches, that all sounds very wonderful! I'm glad you guys talked about it, and she reassured you that she doesn't want to terminate you. I just did something similar, and my T also wasn't trying to get rid of me. I am curious, about how old is your T? I am not TOO worried about retirement from my T, she's mid 50s, and she has repeatedly said she isn't going anywhere.
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#31
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My t is 61.
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#32
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I think what must be happening with us is that we feel insecure in the t relationship -- but it is probably based on how people have treated us in the past, not on what our t says or does. It just "seems" like t is wanting to reject us because it's what we expect to happen. So we are on guard for any look, words, or action that could be interpreted as impending abandonment. Not fun! ![]() What frustrates me is that, each time I'm sure my t wants to reject or abandon me, I don't recognize that it is an unfounded fear or illogical conclusion. It all seems to make perfect sense, because it's what I've been used to all my life. It is only in hindsight that i realize i've basically jumped to conclusions and made myself sick about something that isn't even true. It's amazing how much inner turmoil i bring upon myself by being rejection phobic. I fear it so much i seem to see it everywhere, even when it is not there. It would be interesting to discuss why, when we are so fearful of abandonment, do we act in ways that could prompt someone to abandon us? The best i can figure out is that we become so sure that the other person will eventually reject or leave us that we push the other person to abandon us now and get it over with. Or we pull back and distance ourself every time we fear rejection is going to happen . . . kind of like, "I'll leave you first, so you can't leave and hurt me." Then there is also the withdrawal and retreat that comes when we begin feeling too close to our t's. . .like a part of us is saying, "If you mean too much to me, it will hurt too much when you reject me. Therefore, i will not let you get close or mean that much to me." That is the crux of attachment/abandonment problems. If we understand this intellectually, then why can't we "catch" ourselves when our abandonment fears begin to spin out of control? That is one of the biggest mysteries to me. It's almost like, when i get into that spin, i am no longer a logical adult in the present moment, but i have somehow gone back in time and am responding as the child that i used to be. And i just cannot see it when it is happening. |
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#33
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You're right. I'm glad i went in and talked to my t about it. While she did not apologized for the content of her earlier message, she did say she was sorry if she came across as mean. And I told her i realize now i over-reacted. So things are better now. I'm glad you and your t are able to navigate through ruptures too. |
#34
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I still am not sure what she meant by "look into." I forgot to ask her when we talked about this. Maybe i should ask her tomorrow when i go to my session. I've gotten the impression from my t that she occasionally questions whether she has enough knowledge and skill to help me. She has been practicing for 20 years, yet i think my issues are complex and not easily solvable. She has done extra research and training over the years to learn more about my particular issues. And she is really quite good. I've learned a ton from her. But there have been times she has wondered if i needed something more that she can't give me. If i were able to see the SE t and my t alternately (every other week), that would be something i'd consider. But on doing some more investigating, i found out that both SE t's I found who are living in my area and are female do not take my type of insurance. There was another female, but her picture looked so young. I'm not sure how i'd feel seeing somebody much younger than myself. I also think that due to my tendency to attach and have transference issues, that it may not be wise for me to see a male t, and my husband does not want me to see a man. So the idea of SE t is kind of fizzling. However, if i hunt around long enough, i could probably find someone in my area who does SE and takes my insurance. It's not a very common type of therapy, but I live in a big metropolitan area. I guess i could also do some research/reading about it. The bottom line is that i want to still keep my current t. |
#35
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Peaches, I used to go through those same kinds of dissociated cycles and there are some really good tricks you can use to help you get through them and learn to recognise them when they are happening. I used them and it helped me realise what was going on much quicker, and find different ways to deal with them. Now those cycles don't happen for me any more at all.
I have to go to bed now, but let me know if you want me to share those tricks with you later. |
#36
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YES, please share!! That would really help me. You can share here or PM me, whichever you'd like. Thank you! |
#37
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peaches, I'm so glad you had a great session, and that your T reassured you that not only does she want to continue working with you, but that her retirement may not even be an issue for your work to continue - that's so great!
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![]() ![]() ![]() With my closest friends, I used to pull back after they'd do something that made me feel left out, like if they're going to abandon me, then I'll pull away. The last time that happened was a few months into therapy - I was feeling really close with these friends, and then they did something that made me feel so invalidated, so I pulled away, and I even considered quitting therapy - I told T, after I'd realized that quitting therapy wasn't the answer. But there have also been times when I've felt myself pulling away from T, like when she told me she'd eventually let me down - why would I stick around for that hurt? Pull back now, is what my mind told me to do! And then there have been other times, very recently, when I've been so upset with myself for letting something that T said affect me so much - I was mad at myself for caring so much about what she thought, for letting her get so close. But I talked it out with T. It just feels like it keeps happening, over and over again! ![]() |
#38
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#39
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I, too, pull back when I feel rejected. I have worked on it with my closest friends where I usually can be direct and clarify it. But there still are times when I feel like I'm the least funny, entertaining, smart friend in the room. Luckily I DO feel secure in these relationships (for the most part) so its mostly ok. |
#40
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__________________
Don't let your problems or the world make you feel small. Stretch your arms out over your head. Take a deep breathe. Tell yourself that you are big. You are big, not small. You always have space, you are not trapped........ I'm an ISFJ |
#41
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Thanks for replying. I don't think i was being completely emotional about it, but I do see now, in hindsight, that i was over-reacting. I tend to put pieces together, which appear logical to me at the time, to create a story that i then believe is true and respond to it that way. I get where i think i have things all figured out, but there are assumptions mixed in there that i can't separate from reality. I'm not sure how to catch myself while doing it??? It's only in hindsight, and after talking with my t about things, that i recognize what happened and where my thinking went awry. |
#42
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I was really interested in reading your account of how you used a body centered technique to help release emotions that you had not been able to discharge through just talking about them. It sounds like it was effective in helping you get some of that painful stuff out. My t asked me once to focus on my body and tell her what it felt like doing. My answer was it felt like throwing up. The only problem is i have a phobia about throwing up, so would never, never want to actually do it. But do you think it could have been a metaphor for wanting to figuratively throw up all the bad feelings that are making me emotionally sick and get them out of me? |
#43
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I want to apologize about dropping this thread. There are still posts I haven't answered. What happens is when i get alot of responses, i am so grateful and want to reply to them all. Because it takes alot of time to respond to each one, I'm afraid that the topic gets old and stale in the process, and people on the board lose interest. So i feel bad to keep responding to something that maybe has already become boring on the board. This has happened a few times, and i am not sure how i should handle it. Should i keep replying to all the posts anyway? Or just let the post go when i start feeling that it may have become "old news" on the board? I don't want to be boring, but i also feel bad if i don't reply to each post that people have taken time to post to me. What should i do?
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#44
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hey peaches. My solution to the dilemma you describe is to drop a thread when I am bored with it or have nothing further to say...
BTW to answer your previous question, I don't know! But that's as reasonable a hypothesis as any ![]() |
#45
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I say if you still have stuff to say, respond away! I will still read it
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#46
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Peaches, sometimes when I don't want to prolong a thread, I will just briefly post a joint thank you note to those who responded (naming them by name) and let them know I read and appreciate their responses.
If someone sent a response that was really helpful but I still don't want to respond to because I want the thread to die, I might send them a PM response.
__________________
"Therapists are experts at developing therapeutic relationships." |
#47
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Peaches, this thread has been wonderful to read - thank you so much for sharing!!!!
It is good to see the honesty and how you are dealing with real situations as they come up. Then posting updates to see what happens. Thank you a billion!! My only thought that I did not hear another say (sorry if I overlooked it if they did) was a bit of projection from me to your situation maybe --- but I wondered if maybe you felt by her suggesting you to see another T was something you subconsciously viewed as emotional cheating? Kinda like "Well, if I can't satisfly you, maybe you should try so and so?" Like I said - my own projection issues going on there but that is what I saw.
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#48
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This thread is for you to explore the issue Peaches. If you still want to explore it, please do. These threads aren't newsfeeds (meaning that you need the interest of others to continue it). If you are still exploring then this thread is still interesting.
__________________
Don't let your problems or the world make you feel small. Stretch your arms out over your head. Take a deep breathe. Tell yourself that you are big. You are big, not small. You always have space, you are not trapped........ I'm an ISFJ |
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#49
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peaches, i think if you want to reply then do, but if you feel obligated to respond to each post then i wouldn't bother. there are no shoulds here.
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#50
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good advice here.
I don't think anyone gets offended if their posts are not individually acknowledged. We all post to a thread knowing that we are contributing to someone's thought process, not having many separate conversations. It's perfectly okay to respond with a general thank you, or to summarize people's responses and respond to that...there's no one way to do this, peaches. Be well. |
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