[confused_77]

I keep obsessing about what my t thinks and alternate between thinking that they are completely immune to anything I say to thinking they are annoyed or to not having a clue about whats going on.
I tend to think of them as a super patient and compassionate 'robot' who can take absolutely everything to thinking they are anothor human being imperfect just like their patients. Of course we all put our 'work/proffesional face' at work and they have been trained to be compasionate, to respond and guide but what does the human being in my T think.

I've had this conversation with T. She says of course "the work", - as whatever I say to her is the work - affects her. But not in the way we think. It's about us. No matter what we say. She looks at it as part of the work.

I definitely don't think that what clients say and do have no effect on the T, it was absolutely not my experience and does not even make sense theoretically speaking. Remaining patient and not showing strong reactions is something some of them can do, but no way one can just turn off internal emotions (whether positive or negative) at will, no matter how much understanding, training and self-discipline. Not expressing it and remaining professional is what can be practiced and mastered, I think. Also, I imagine Ts hear so many emotional *** all the time, a lot of it repeatedly, that they become quite immune to a lot of it. But I can't imagine it not having some kind of impact. I try to be as professional as I can in my work and communicate that way but internally I still feel all sorts of effects from interactions, some bigger than others.

[confused_77]

that's my thinking at the end of the day no matter how much training you get its more about not acting out on the impulses rather than not having any thoughts about their patients.
its such a bizarre one sided relationship, i find mind-boggling lately. i get increasingly curious about their personal life and can't comprehend how anyone can have so much composure or patience.

[stopdog]

I never saw them as all that patient or composed. More detached than anything else. I don't think it would be all that hard - it is not their life and clients are not part of their real life

[confused_77]

Originally Posted by stopdog

I never saw them as all the patient or composed. More detached than anything else. I don't think it would be all that hard - it is not their life and clients are not part of their real life

hmm detached not composed? is this just a different way of interpreting silence? for me reading the silence is something that takes up a lot of the time. i would probably want them to snap or show any emotions.

[MoxieDoxie]

I think they are thinking......"THANK GOD I am not them!"

[Fernwehxx]

Tgis depends on the T. I have had aome in the past for whom I was a just one of many, and I sobt think they thought mich about what I did or said. I never truly connected either and thought, well, therapy is not really helping that much... I dis learn atuff, but never went deep.
Now, I so have the imoreasion my T thibks about stuff I do or say. She is always composed and lovely, but she does react, with emotions... And to me, that is priceless. I love her for it.

I myself aometimes have to coach people in my job. I have had employees tell me about mental issues. And I was as composed as one could be. Its a matter of training and communication, id say. And in a way, a T has to be composed, esp if the client is very emotional.

I wonder too. My t said near the end of my session just before I took a break "I get a lot out of this too, you know." But I didn't ask her what. She did tell me one time after I had told her how grateful I was for everything that I've learned from her, and she said that she learns from me too. Again like a dummy I didn't ask her what on earth she could possibly learn from me.

My therapist is always telling me what she thinks. As a therapist and as a “regular person”- dont most therapists do this?