[PeeJay]

What does it mean when a therapist says she has "a lot invested in" a client?

Out of curiosity, I asked my therapist if she had ever felt stuck with me or had ever consulted with anyone on my case. And she had!

She said she had a lot invested in me and that she wanted to make sure that she was keeping the therapy about my goals. She said she needed a reality check, or she needed to make sure she was held accountable by other therapists.

I'm appreciative of her professionalism and conduct. But I'm not sure what it means when a therapist has a lot invested in a client.

Does it mean she has come to like me and cares about the outcome?

[stopdog]

Possibly it would mean that.
I would not like a therapist to say such a thing to me or mean such a thing.

[unaluna]

I once asked my t if he believed in me. He replied he believed in the process. A few years later, he said he didnt remember saying that, and he said he did believe in me. In a way, we are their work product. But it is also the journey, not the destination, as it is with many things in life.

[PeeJay]

Originally Posted by stopdog

Possibly it would mean that.
I would not like a therapist to say such a thing to me or mean such a thing.

I'm struggling with it because I feel that I have a lot invested in her, given the time and money I have spent bringing her up to speed on my life and story.

She is deep, deep, deep into my story. I can just say any of a dozen names or places or events and she will know who I'm talking about and she will know the significance of the interaction. It has taken close to $10,000 in therapy to get her to this point over the months and years.

So I know I have a lot invested. It hadn't occurred to me that she feels that she has a lot invested, too. She has been truly helping me, which I admitted to her with surprise during our previous session.

To me, "invested," means time and money that I will never get back. I suppose she has invested time, but I do pay her for that time. If she is invested, do I owe her a return?

I work with money so "invested" may mean something different to me.

I'm fascinated at how she perceives things.

I think therapist and client may describe the same things in very different ways.

[stopdog]

No, in my opinion, a client absolutely does not owe the therapist a return. She has been paid for her time - that is all a therapist gets.

[Asiablue]

I think she means she is emotionally invested in you and committed to both you and the process. It sounds like she is deeply emotionally invested in you as a person and to ensure that she doesn't let her personal feelings for you cloud her judgement or her capacity to work in a professional way, she speaks with colleagues to make sure her actions are coming from a therapeutic professional and safe standard.

That is my take on it, but you'd be better asking her what she meant.

[Ididitmyway]

To be perfectly honest, when the therapist is emotionally invested in the client, he or she should not work with that client, because being "invested" is about the therapist's agenda or goals for the client, or worse, about the T's emotional needs, when therapy should be about the client's needs and the client's setting and pursuing their own goals. When the T feels they are invested in the client, it's time for them to take a hard look at themselves and what they are getting for themselves from that "investment". When I was in training, one of the questions we were suggested to ask ourselves regularly when making judgments about what course of actions to take with each particular client was "is it about me or about the client?" and answer it honestly. This was to make sure that our personal issues didn't interfere with the work.

[Partless]

Originally Posted by Asiablue

I think she means she is emotionally invested in you and committed to both you and the process. It sounds like she is deeply emotionally invested in you as a person and to ensure that she doesn't let her personal feelings for you cloud her judgement or her capacity to work in a professional way, she speaks with colleagues to make sure her actions are coming from a therapeutic professional and safe standard.

That is my take on it, but you'd be better asking her what she meant.

yes that was close to my reading of it too

[VelvetRevolver]

My guess is she means you are worth it PeeJay, and she probably sees a good prognosis for you. It's just taking a while longer than what she(or her training) anticipated.