attachment

Does anyone here NOT think about their attachment to their psych professional? I see a lot of posts about attachment issues and how people love and are bonded to their psych professionals and I was just wondering if anyone here just didn't think or care about that side of things.

It's a tool. Honestly I would not want to be close to a therapist. For some posters here, it works brilliantly, for others it is a disaster. I don't think it would work brilliantly for me, and I have enough pain to deal with already, so...they're a tool. (Sometimes both kinds of tool.)

I voted I don't think about it, but last session my T mentined it and said it was conversation we need to have.

i am very attached to my t. the obsessiveness of it ebbs and flows.

Pretty sure I can think of at least one poster who would say no (paging Stopdog!)

As for me, I'm pretty attached to my T and am attached to and think constantly about my marriage counselor.

Therapy was always a tool for me. I liked my therapists well enough, a great deal actually, but I saw them for fairly specific reasons and with the absolute goal to get to a point where I wouldn't need therapy anymore. The relationship with them wasn't on the list of why I saw them at all; it was important only so far as I needed to work with someone I got along with -- that I synced up with. We had good and effective therapy relationships that I knew served that purpose, but I never expected more from them than that.

I voted that I'm obsessed. I totally adore my T and am very attached to her. I think of her often, and I don't know what I'd do without her.

I put "i think about it sometimes, but not too much." I am actually not sure I think about it in the T-Client way though, more like what my attachment style is and how it relates to how I see the world. It has creeped into our relationship, but I guess I see it as because I am avoidant-fearful, I easily get anxious that she hates me, but simultaneously wishes this whole "connection to other people" thing wasn't a neccesity in life.

I think other. I am deeply attached to my T but also very involved in my own life. I can't say I think about her constantly or obsess about her although I do think about our relationship a lot. In part this is missing her and in part its because she is truly serving as the model for my own inner parent. So I ask myself " what would T say/do" because she is much more compassionate towards me than I am towards myself. Sometimes I panic about our relationship but in general fear of abandonment/rejection is a part of ALL my important relationships...
So I guess I'd say I love my T very much and our relationship is very important to me... But its not constant or obsessive either...

I feel really attached to my therapist but i feel attached to a lot of people, so for me it feels pretty normal. We don't really focus on our relationship in the therapy, but the strength of our relationship gives me a really strong base for working on the things I want to work on. I don't think I could bring up the things I talk about if our relationship didn't feel as secure as it does.

I voted that I have mixed feelings and that I don't think about it often. Attachment is a weird thing for me outside of therapy to begin with, seeing as there are into two people I know I'm "attached" to. If I think logically and put all emotions aside, I know I'm attached to my t simply because she knows everything about my life and I depend on her in such a way that only she can provide. If I wasn't attached, I don't think my personal therapy would work. However, I have a hard time admitting that attachment, even though it is beneficial, because I tend to keep most people at a distance.

I used to be very attached. Nowadays I'm a little attached and I don't think about it all the time. It comes and goes.

Well depends on what professional we are talking about.

My psychiatrist meh I just go to get my prescriptions refilled don't ever think about him between visits every three months.

My therapist who I see weekly is a VERY different story. I think about her several times an hour. I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with her, have never done anything stalker-ish.

No, I am not attached.

I think of my t same way I think of my dentist, ob/gyn and hair dresser and nail person . They are good at their job, and I trust their professionalism and I don't want to switch to anyone else unless I have to. Every time I go to a different hair dresser or dentist etc they just don't do as good of a job.

The difference is I only see my t infrequently I don't really have to see her. I have to see my dentist, gyn and hairdresser etc but I don't day dream about any of them.

My t is very good though. One doesn't need to be attached to have good therapy.

Ps forgot to add I also have very good financial advisor. I appreciate people who are good at what they do

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I can say I feel no attachment to any of my mental health care providers. The relationship is purely professional - even when my therapist was taking me out into the community to directly expose myself to my anxieties. They have their own lives which I must respect. They are only doing their job. And, after all, why would I be any more special than their spouse or all their other patients? Besides, to treat me as such would threaten their livelihood.

I voted constantly thinking. My T and I are very close and have agreed to keep in contact after (though the relationship would look different). So, I do partially think of her when I want to do something nice for a friend (i'm a giver), because I factor her in to who I want to chat with or gift that day. It probably doesn't help that my circle of people in my life (fam and friends) is only limited to around 8 on average, so the people cycle back up to the top pretty often lol.

Question: Do those of you who DO feel or desire a closeness to your therapists think about the ramifications of such to their own lives and careers?

I am still very attached to the therapist I just ended with. I still think about her all the time and I did when she was my therapist. We still have a very close relationship and we always did.

I'm very attached to my T who's now on leave. I was thinking about her so many times a day and now I still do that. I'm not dealing well with her leaving.
I don't like this attachment. It's too much.

I don't feel attachment to my replacement T. I like her, but I don't really have other feelings for her. I only think about her if it has to do with something from therapy. I think this is better for me, but I also feel something's missing.

I haven't felt attachment for previous T's.

Yes I do think about the impact it would have on her personal and professional life.

I'm definitely attached to my t.it's nothing huge or disproportionate, but I think (for me anyway) attachment and trust go together. I don't trust easily. The few people I do trust I also consider myself "attached" to. The work I'm doing in therapy at this point requires trust. There have been times where I didn't work on the deeper stuff, so didn't need to trust the t in the same way. Now though, working through csa and abuse issues, there needs to be a level of trust to be able to tackle it all. I'm not sure which causes the other, but they are certainly heavily correlated.

Of the 60 who responded to the poll (so far), over 50% are either obsessed with their psych professional or thinking constantly about them.

This is the sort of statistical data that should be collected by the profession and then shared as part of informed consent. Not saying they will do this, cuz it would be bad for business, but they should.

I don't like my psychiatrist as a "therapist", and that is what he is.

I don't think too much about our "relationship" (Actually, I don't think it is a relationship...)

I guess it's also important to bear in mind that this isn't necessarily representative of clients across the board. I think people who think a lot about their therapists are likely to be drawn to this forum. I know it was my obsessive thinking about my first therapist that brought me here initially.

That's always been my take on this forum. We have a personal interest/focus/maybe even obsession with all things therapy here which really isn't the norm.