Posted by Dinah on March 4, 2007, at 13:27:45
In reply to Once again, a transference question, posted by bailey777 on March 2, 2007, at 17:18:15
I'm not sure just calling it transference and letting it drop would be all that helpful, although it's likely more comfortable for the therapist. :)
At first my feelings for my therapist were way too big to allow much objective viewing of them. But over time, I've grown to see how my reaction to him is an exaggeration of a pattern I often fall into. I have a tendency to take an authority or fatherlike figure that is by circumstance effectively unattainable and try to be special to them. I often succeed to a certain point, but the circumstances preclude any meaningful connection yet give me enough encouragement to keep trying.
I guess how that helped me was to allow me to see what I'm doing. I can choose to do it or not, but seeing what I'm doing allows me to have a bit of distance and to avoid being as caught up in it.
I don't know if your attachment to your therapist falls into an overall pattern for you or not. And I have long grown to believe that the therapeutic situation itself mimics mating rituals and maternal bonding situations and call forth strong feelings. I've also grown to wonder if this is not really such a good thing in at least a lot of situations.
poster:Dinah
thread:737762
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070215/msgs/738242.html