[Indie'sOK]

Hi guys,

During my last therapy session, my T mentioned something in passing...it had a specific name to it, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. Can you help?

We were talking about my transference. I said that I feel like my issues with this - my attachment to therapy itself - is preventing me from wanting to get better. I think that's how I described it. Is there a specific name to this? I'm curious.

Thanks
Indie

Hi Indie,

I hear what you're saying. It's like you're codependant on therapy so you have a fear of getting better and not needing therapy? Is that accurate? I felt that way for a long time and now I wish I was back in therapy with a specific therapist. I miss her direction for my life. I really felt like she had the power to set me straight when I started getting off track. Just a couple words, Tara this is a relapse sufficed to get me back on track. Anyhow don't know if that is what you're looking for.

Love and Hugs,
Tara

[madisgram]

indie, once when i wasn't discussing my real issues my T looked me square in the eye and said to me, your therapy is your responsibility, not mine. i got his point real quick.

It is however possible to use therapy as an excuse not to move on and take up life's challenges. In this way something that is meant to provide a way out of the destructive pattern becomes destructive itself. This is a lesser-known danger but a danger all the same.

Good therapy provides a vehicle for the patient to use to get from a bad place to a good one but some people are disinclined to move on. They begin to use the therapy itself as a crutch, a substitute for the challenges of real life. In this way therapy takes on many of the characteristics of an addiction that is to say it becomes yet another inappropriate coping mechanism a further means of escaping reality.http://info.addictions.org/index/Add...aviors/Therapy

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...dicted-therapy
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...omes-addiction

Hello, Indie'sOK. "Addiction," perhaps, is too general a term for what your therapist was talking about. Since you mentioned transference, I am thinking factors such as "safety" and "attraction" might be relevant.

When we feel transference with our therapist it is often experienced from a child-like state. This knowledge can help us in the healing. For what does a child crave but safety and attunement with their needs being met in the moment.

So, you can imagine, in the hands of a poorly trained therapist, how potentially detrimental it might be to a client's well-being if the transference is not worked through appropriately. Just so you know, transference is not something that is easily navigated by the client and the therapist.

Make no mistake about it. Experiencing your transference isn't always a cakewalk. It is far easier to have a nice chat analyzing your therapist's interpretations. But we already know that anything truly worthwhile cannot be attained without effort.

http://www.myshrink.com/counseling-theory.php?t_id=18