[Princetonstyle]

Anyone else struggle and then successfully deal with maternal transference in therapy? I'm having such a hard time in my day to day life between sessions. I brought up the feelings with my T and she responded respectfully and kindly, while making the firm boundary clear. I'm making real efforts to manage and build my own resilience with all of the tools she's emphasized, but how do I stop this desperate need to see her? I'm firmly stuck on a schedule of seeing her only once every two weeks - which won't change. Any tips on how to deal with the emotional pain/longing would be really appreciated!

[mostlylurking]

Does she not allow any out of session contact? Just wondering what you mean by "making the firm boundary clear".

[dtrain0802]

This isn't uncommon. Have you tried discussing it with your therapist? Something along the lines of the following maybe:

"Hey, I'm really struggling between sessions because..."

I felt the same way for a while; especially after my therapist - who at the time worked for a non-profit at the time - was forced to discharge me because I may or may not have kind of busted up the waiting area of here then office at the time. The best I can offer you is if you're really giving therapy your very best effort, your therapist will give you all the "tools" you need to cope with whatever comes up.

Good luck!

[ScarletPimpernel]

I had maternal transference with many women in the past. I did make it through 2 of them w/o the transference in the end. For me, it was having my needs met by them (within their boundaries) and just slowly weaning off of them. I'm actually still in contact with one of them on fb! And the other, after 12 years, finally left my life.

Now attachment, on the other hand, is something I still struggle with.

[itjustis]

My maternal transference with my T was through the roof. It was extremely painful and confusing. I'm coming out of that now because we always talk about it if I need to.

It's my attachment now that is the issue. It's not as strong as it used to be but it sometimes raises its ugly head.

Talk and talk as much as you need to. That's the only way i got through the worst of it.