Posted by Dinah on February 5, 2004, at 18:59:03
My boss came up today to talk to me about therapy. He knows I go at least once a week, and may know about the second time. I honestly think he was trying to be sensitive.
He had seen one of those conquer your anxiety tapes on tv, and was asking me if I had tried them and if they helped, admitting that it was probably easier said than done. I neutrally mentioned that they were probably cognitive behavior therapy on tape, and that I hadn't tried them though I had done cognitive behavior therapy. Then he sort of hinted at asking me if my problem were anxiety. Mine is a small office and he's in charge of the medical stuff, so he's aware that I have in my file a "prescription" for therapy from my pdoc in which he says it's for a mood disorder with obsessive compulsive features.
He had been hanging around my office for a few minutes before this conversation, unusual for him, and acting uncomfortable. I know he meant to try to help.
Then he asked me if my therapist was actually helping me, or curing me or something. He's a diabetic, so I used that metaphor. That therapy (for me) was like insulin, not like a pancreas transplant. Then he was mercifully called away.
Nothing is a secret at my office, and I don't really mind him asking. I even appreciate his totally uncharacteristic desire to be sensitive. But I don't like to feel like I need to justify my therapy. :(
I'd halfway like to pull up my shirt to show him my very faint remaining scars and tell him that the secure bond with my therapist has replaced self injury as a coping mechanism. But I know rationally that his questions weren't actually a threat to my therapy and that I need to guard against being too defensive.
poster:Dinah
thread:309925
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040131/msgs/309925.html