Couch 204: The Refactorable Couch

Sounds illegal.

It’s not. Anyway...the question wasn’t asking anyone’s opinion. I asked if anyone knew of any apps.

Moving on.

New job starts tomorrow. These 2 weeks off went rather quickly. No more time off for the foreseeable future.

Hope it goes well, Jersey!

I’m so sorry that everything is so hard lately

I recently came across a book called "The Love Cure: Therapy Erotic and sexual". I'm not very far into the book because it's a heavy read for me. In the very beginning (and as I understand it), the author goes on to explain how the word erotic has basis from the god Eros and in general referred to all forms of love. That over time it has gotten a more narrow and sexualized association.

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Cure-The.../dp/0882145134

It might be useful, if you have not already done so, to ask for clarification as to what your T specifically means by erotic transference, in relationship to love, longing, wanting, missing, sexual activity/behaviors, desires... and so on. Even though I associate my transference with my T to be parental, I have wondered about my longing and desiring feelings towards her and where it fits in terms of how I may feel towards a sexual partner/lover.

I'm writing an article, and eating the feelings that are coming up as a result. It's going well...not.

Thanks LT. It should be okay. Tomorrow is only 8.5 hours long. Wednesday’s are 13.5 hours. That’s where I’ll struggle.

Hugs, Lost.

Thanks for the book recommendation--looks like it's available at my university library; I'll go fetch it later today!

I will also ask him what he means by erotic transference--I think I'm one of those annoying patients who knows just enough about psychoanalysis to be vain about it and not ask him to clarify, if that makes any sense -- silly I know

That’s completely wrong, actually, from an ancient Greek standpoint (it’s more like the other way around) but if his larger point is that in therapy the boundaries between erotic and non-erotic are really blurred, I buy that.

It just seems from reading on here that it’s not actually possible to put what’s called parental and erotic transference into neat separate cubbyholes. They’re more like a Venn diagram with the amount of overlap in the center differing between clients.

Anyway, my random thoughts. Hope the book is helpful to you.

Yeah, ExMC has said that it’s common to have both at once, that we just have one word for “love,” whether paternal/maternal, romantic, platonic, etc. so makes sense they’d overlap. Meanwhile ex-T seemed to think it was weird that I had some of both for him

I have this question that I've always wondered about... to what extent does knowing the etymology of a word help you understand the concept it represents? An example: to what extent does knowing the etymology of the word "compassion" help a person decide what it means to be compassionate?

@@, do you have an opinion on this?

Totally me. I yell at him for explaining the simple stuff, so he stopped explaining anything.

Generally, I think it should help, but the meanings of some specific words might change too much over time. Like sympathy and empathy should have different meanings but they’re regarded as synonyms today.

The exception might be something like medical terminology—but even then meanings can shift.

There's a whole category of "toilet training systems" for cats on Amazon. I might try it, but I will want to have the cat's feces tested for toxoplasma first since I can't flush the poop if its infected. I wonder if that's something the vet can do.

I am having to remind myself today that you have to pick your battles, annoying as some academics' behaviors are.

Amen to that

From a book on erotic transference:

"Breuer burnt his fingers on the flames of the erotic; leading personalities in psychoanalysis like Jung, Rank, Ferenczi and many others who had sex with their patients, burnt more of their anatomy than that."

I get a lot of sinus infections but it never ceases to amaze me how much goo can come out of what would appear to be a not very large area.

I feel very agitated.

I need to start my job with a clear head tomorrow and I’m unsure how to make that happen. I’m having trouble compartmentalizing.

That would agitate me too, Jersey. I hope the new job goes well tomorrow.

I met with a couple of new colleagues to lesson plan today and inadvertently stirred up some drama. Learning the politics of a new job is challenging and tiring. Part of me misses my old job.

I got to see my nieces today! They're getting so big! But they're so smart and beautiful. I got to feed and hold the 6 month old, and hold and play with the 2 year old. It was fun seeing them eat their cupcakes. When the 2 year old opened her presents from me, she loved the little toy register I got her. My sister had to hide it so she'd open her other presents. It was nice to see a variety of presents for my niece: tricycle, scooter, guitar, piano, babydoll and stroller, coloring books and supplies, stickers, and then the electronic toys to help encourage her to talk. Oh, and we met the new boyfriend's family. They were actually normal! They didn't drink, they actually socialized, they were nice, etc. The sister also had a little girl who was 2.5 years, so it was cool watching them play together. I was sad though seeing how far behind my niece is in talking compared to the other little girl. But she's smart, so one day she'll catch up. Just hope my sister gets them back.

When I got back home, my H demanded that I clean up after the dogs. And then my dad's Malamute peed all over the patio rug. And who do you think had to clean it up? Me! I'm so exhausted from the party, socializing, and having a UTI, that I collapsed after cleaning and took a nap.

Thanks VN. I hope you are able to settle into your new job soon.

hugs and headnods all around as appropriate.