Posted by lucy stone on May 29, 2004, at 10:34:29
In reply to Re: Maybe I can post this part, posted by Dinah on May 29, 2004, at 9:54:52
I can totally relate to this. I am in psychoanalysis and go 4X/week. I only get 26 sessions/year covered by my insurance and I use that up in under two months so it is outrageously expensive. It is also very time consuming. Fortunately I have a very flexible work schedule but it does break up my day, especially if I have a difficult session and come out feeling like mush. In the beginning he was always trying to get me to increase the number of sessions/week, saying that in analysis it was better to go more days/week than not go. After long discussions with my (very supportive) husband we made the rooom in our budget. I've been doing this for 3 1/2 years, and last week I brought up the guilt I feel spending so much of my families assests on myself, especially since I have one child in college and another going in 1 1/2 years. He said that we needed to talk about that, and that we needed to find a level of sessions that felt right to me. I was like huh?, what happened to more sessions being better that less? I am doing much better than I was when I first started seeing him and am less desctructive to myself, but he and I agree that I am not done yet. When I first starting seeing him he had only been certified to do psychoanalysis for 1 year although he has been a therapist for over 25 and I always wondered if he was suggesting it because he was looking for anaylsis patients or if it was for my best interest. Now, he is fully booked if not overbooked. I wonder if now that he would have no trouble filling my sessions if I cut back that he is not as encouraging about 4X/week. I love him dearly and he has helped me tremendously but this thing nags at me. He is always accessable and supportive, returns calls withing two hours, carries a pager so I can call him after hours, gives me his contact number when he is out of town so I can reach him, will see me after hours if I need an extra session when he has been gone, ect., ect., yet this thing nags at me. After all, one patient 4X/week is a big chuck of a practice, and since I always pay on time I am a very reliable income steam for him. Is he accessible because he cares or because he is keeping a good client happy? Maybe these are my major trust issues popping up again...
poster:lucy stone
thread:351655
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040522/msgs/351831.html