[atisketatasket]

Often on the boards posters say they find therapy addictive or they need their fix from therapy.

I'm curious as to the nature of the addiction. (Addiction is not being used in a negative sense here.)

Is it the therapist? (attachment, transference, etc.)
Is it the therapeutic process? (being heard, accepted, etc.)
Is it something else?

I don't find therapy addictive; it just seems helpful at times. The only thing I really find addictive is exercise, and that's because it makes me feel so whole and vital physically and emotionally. Therapy doesn't make me feel that way.

[Out There]

I don't find therapy addictive. I find it useful and a little ambivalent. I do appreciate the space.

I never found therapy addictive, but I do find this forum addictive, especially when I have deadlines looming ahead.

[AllHeart]

Addictive for me because I came to love my t and got attached like glue to her.

[stopdog]

I chose other because I think the term addictive may be interpreted with a negative tone and addictive to me implies some sort of chemical dependence that leads to something not positive. I think the people who most report wanting a therapy "fix" think of it as positive and it may not lead as directly to physical breakdown as say an opiate. If any dependence equals addictive - then I would say therapists set the game up so that clients are more likely to become dependent upon them in more instances than not.
For me, I do not enjoy the appointments nor look forward to the way I feel before, during or after, and I cancel a lot. If chemical is involved - the one(s) released for me in interacting with the therapist are not the positive ones like oxytocin. (10 Reasons Why Oxytocin Is The Most Amazing Molecule In The World). So for me it is not what I would think of as an addictive situation.

I never found therapy addictive. Necessary, yes for a time. Something I needed with consistency for a period of time, yes. But it was never something I felt like I "had" to have or I just couldn't make it without my therapy "fix", certainly not just from one particular therapist. I could switch therapists if I had to and be just fine. I could go without therapy for periods of time, so long as I was fairly stable, and not long for my therapist or a session. Therapy was a tool, a support, for a time in my life when I needed it.

For me, it was with T1 and isn't with T2. I think it was due to T1's inability to handle my attachment. His anxiety around my feelings increased my insecurity and gave me the sense of needing to see him.
I can only speak for my experience, but I felt it was addictive with the wrong practitioner.

[Myrto]

Yes I find therapy addictive because of my attachment to my therapist.
I sometimes want to cancel but I can't bring myself to it because then I won't be seeing my therapist. I also often feel like I'm going to explode until the next appointment.
I don't like that situation but there it is.

I have a history of addictions and can't think of addiction as something that does not come with negative consequences. But yeah this was a concern for me before I started therapy, due to my tendency to get obsessed with pretty much anything that interests me. I even expressed to my therapist this concern very early on and he reassured me if it becomes an issue, we'll address it. It turned out just fine. I don't feel therapy is something I want to do all the time and/or instead of other important things in my life. Sometimes thinking about therapy or my therapist gets a bit excessive, but I don't tend to do it to substitute or avoid other things and don't feel it gives me the instant gratification other addictions used to. I can imagine it becoming addictive with the wrong practitioner, as Echos Myron mentioned, just like I got seriously addicted to a romantic relationship once in the past (with someone who was similarly addiction-prone and ***ed up emotionally). Luckily mine does not encourage that sort of thing in any form but is nurturing enough so that I don't crave anything excessively.

[here today]

Interesting question! It may have been addictive for me because I felt so broken that I kept looking for answers or “fixes”. Trouble is – to what can one turn, apart from therapy and spiritual approaches, when one feels miserable, broken, etc.? The comfort of belonging to a tribe or group of kinfolk – I had that some when I was a child, but it was also false and fake in lots of ways and has deteriorated now with the passage of time. And because of my brokenness I had few good relationships except for my late husband.

What else is there? I feel like the dancers in the movie from my youth “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” (Not that I have any such intentions, just feelings.)

[Serzen]

Well I think one can get addicted to anything...

I dn't know whether its addiction, but my T often asks me why I keep coming back and to be honest I really don't know. It is more painful to not go than to go.

[brillskep]

I think it depends. Personally, for me it is at the moment, because sometimes I want out but feel like I can´t start seeing another therapist. I think this is both due to my therapist´s style and (especially) part of the issues that brought me to therapy in the first place (becoming very attached to unavailable people or people who hurt me). I know people who also feel addicted in one way or another and others who do not. I know therapists who respect clients' autonomy and others who, unfortunately, not so much. I think the good, ethical, informed therapist needs to be highly aware about individual differences around this issue so that clients are empowered and don't end up feeling trapped.

[rainbow8]

Yes, I find therapy addictive. That's probably no surprise to those who have been on here for a long time and know me! I'm also kind of addicted to this forum too. Our whole society is now addicted to cell phones too. I cringe when I see my 3 year old grandkids cry when they can't have the PHONE! But that's another story. I do think therapy is like a drug for me. When I first started I didn't think it was going to be like that. I didn't even want to go. I think the addiction began when I realized I felt a connection to my T. That felt too good to ever give up. I saw 5 different Ts and stopped therapy for about 10 years in between, then went back. Therapy pulls me in like a magnet, and getting those needs met elsewhere has been my biggest issue.

[seoultous]

i am addicted to being the most important person in the room for 1 hour a week. So, yeah I am addicted to therapy. Having a great therapist is a bonus.

[Pennster]

Therapy is important to me but I don't feel addicted to it. I feel committed to helping myself get over the problems that limit my life.

[awkwardlyyours]

Other. I wouldn't say I'm addicted to therapy but I feel like I'm mid-stream or on the verge of sorting out some major internal shifts and so, if I were to quit therapy now, it'll be a setback of sorts.

For the therapist as well -- ideally, now that I know how therapy works, I'd choose someone who was somewhat of a better fit for me. But, I'm 9 months in and honestly, way too lazy to start all over again with someone else unless my therapist did something egregiously wrong. So, I guess if anything I'm addicted to laziness?

I also chose my therapist in part using a complex calculation of which parts of my (demographic) identities were sort of similar to hers (and equally importantly, which were not). Given where I live, there are literally just a handful of options to fit that criteria -- I could give up on some of those criteria but right now I don't want the added mental burden of dealing with the discomfort around that if I were to pick someone else. So, I don't know if I'm addicted to my specific therapist either as opposed to my own comfort around the idea of what boxes a therapist should check.

[kecanoe]

I was addicted to t1, am not so much now. Still dependent, but that is part of who I am (dependent personality disorder, among other things), not due to t. I have managed to avoid addiction to t2 and t3, thank God.

[Argonautomobile]

I like the attention. Maybe not the most flattering thing to admit about yourself, but there it is. I wouldn't call it "addiction," though (not after all that blow I did!)

[ruh roh]

I selected "another answer entirely." I don't see it as addictive in the way that therapy is something I crave and become twitchy without. I'm in a serious situation that's worsening (beyond my control) and I need help navigating it. I have a great therapist, so it works for me to keep going.

[Favorite Jeans]

I find it addictive. There are ways in which it's helpful and I think (sometimes I merely hope) those ways are more adaptive than the ways that substances are helpful. I have gotten attached now to several different therapists in a pattern that is common to all of them.

It feels good for a time but also makes me feel sick about myself. I don't think I'd starve to pay for therapy but I'd give up a lot. I feel needy and a little obsessed and often have an unshutupable internal running monologue of things that I imagine telling my T. I feel a sense of relief at seeing her, feel like I can't see her enough, and would jump through any number of logistical and financial hoops to get a little more time with her.

Generally it's the needy feelings that have made me feel sick about myself. Other times the content is the main source of the sick feeling. I think "addiction" is fairly apt here for describing something you can't stop doing even if you feel icky about it, even if you're overspending, because the fleeting relief it offers is so incredibly powerful.

[Cinnamon_Stick]

Yes, I find therapy addictive. I am very attached to my therapist and have strong maternal transference. We have a close, really good relationship. My sessions give me that one hour of someones full attention and I get my feelings validated. My therapist also gives me something I don't have or get much of. Hope. She gives me the hope that things will get better and I will get better. That life is good and I am blessed. She makes me feel so empowered and like I can take on the world.

[UglyDucky]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Often on the boards posters say they find therapy addictive or they need their fix from therapy.

I'm curious as to the nature of the addiction. (Addiction is not being used in a negative sense here.)

Is it the therapist? (attachment, transference, etc.)
Is it the therapeutic process? (being heard, accepted, etc.)
Is it something else?

I don't find therapy addictive; it just seems helpful at times. The only thing I really find addictive is exercise, and that's because it makes me feel so whole and vital physically and emotionally. Therapy doesn't make me feel that way.

I voted yes, because of the therapeutic process, but wanted to also check yes, because of the therapist. For me, the two are inexplicably connected. I'm in transference and am also attached to my T, but s/he also hears me and validates my feelings when warranted. I've also become addicted to the experience of feeling something...anything. My isolation was so complete for the past six to seven years that cognitively, I'd done damage to my brain. (Who knew brains need other brains to survive?) Abandonment and loss, along with trauma aside, therapist and the therapeutic process are rewiring my brain. How could that NOT be addictive?

[UglyDucky]

I voted yes, because of the therapeutic process, and also checked yes, because of the therapist. For me, the two are inexplicably connected. I'm in transference and am also attached to my T, but s/he also hears me and validates my feelings when warranted. I've also become addicted to the experience of feeling something...anything. My isolation was so complete for the past six to seven years that cognitively, I'd done damage to my brain. (Who knew brains need other brains to survive?) Abandonment and loss, along with trauma aside, therapist and the therapeutic process are rewiring my brain. How could that NOT be addictive?

[Petra5ed]

I did find it addictive but less so recently. When I did it was that for me, it felt like it filled a hole, although it wasn't a perfect job of it (figurative hole). It was clear to me that I wanted to feel close to someone and he happened to be the perfect person for me I thought. I still find him very interesting, but he no longer fills a void, he's made his own void. Still I keep going because life is short and no one wants to suffer alone.