[UglyDucky]

Ambiguity typically plays a big role in therapy. I've recently discovered that I'm not very tolerant of ambiguity, which surprised me. I'm going to go out on a limb, here, and say that I think I have become less tolerant of ambiguity the closer I've become to my T.

Does anyone else notice this tolerance or intolerance in therapy?

[coolibrarian]

I was left out of a lot of things when I was a child. My mother lied to me and excluded me in many ways. As a result I often have an insatiable need to KNOW things. I am curious about all manner of things, which has been both a blessing and a curse.

[stopdog]

Not at all. I hire two of them, take classes, and visit psychology consultants to stop it.

[Argonautomobile]

I don't think most people care much for ambiguity. Everyone likes to know where they stand. Maybe some people are more "tolerant" of it because their self-concept/sense of order/whatever stands more firmly on its own, and does not depend as much on external things.

I guess an example of this would be the way the therapeutic relationship itself is kind of ambiguous. It's both professional and intimate. So it's natural to ask something like, "Does my T really care about me?" If you have a firm belief that you are lovable, maybe that question doesn't bother you as much. If you don't have that belief, maybe that question bothers you a lot, because you have to try and answer it using ambiguous, contradictory evidence in the external world, rather than with some firm internal belief.

[atisketatasket]

I'm fairly comfortable with ambiguity (it's a big problem with the evidence in my research field). This means I have also developed the habit of asking "what does that mean?" when I don't understand, which helps.

And I am totally lovable.

[thesnowqueen]

I guess it depends on what exactly it is that is ambiguous? I think I tend to interpret things negatively when they are unclear - I guess it seems "safer"...

[Pennster]

I actually prefer ambiguity in many situations, though I guess I haven't thought much about how that plays out in therapy. I think I prefer ambiguity because I had a very physically sick person in my family when I was growing up, and for me the only bit of hope came from ambiguity inherent in the situation. (If one were seeking certainty, it would be obvious that this person was going to die.) So I tend to think of ambiguity as where the hope lies, and I tend to think of craving for certainty as the urge to hurtle knowingly toward one's doom.

In therapy pretty tolerant. I liked to find my own clarity and "truth" and tell the Ts about it. I do tend to do that in many other areas of my life as well so it felt quite natural. It's not about closeness for me, just dissection

[annielovesbacon]

I guess it depends on what you mean by ambiguity. In my therapy with T we dissect a lot of my thought processes and she never tells me the way I think is "right" or "wrong" she lets me come to those conclusions on my own. So I suppose that could be interpreted as ambiguous in a way? In which case I prefer that. If my T was telling how to think or that a thought I had was "wrong" I would be quite annoyed.

[BudFox]

As i see it, i paid for clarity and got mostly ambiguity. What a ripoff. In other business relationships ambiguity would be considered a bug not a feature.

[Ididitmyway]

I have been harmed by ambiguity in therapy and so I have zero tolerance for it. Simple as that.