Posted by Dinah on October 31, 2004, at 21:57:55
When I called to cancel two sessions this week due to my deadline, I was pretty much semi-hysterical both times. Although I was even worse at other moments. And I asked him to tell me everything would be ok. It's sort of a leaving session ritual we have when I'm not feeling well. And he always says it the same way, in the same tone, with the same intonations.
And he couldn't do it over the phone! Is it tied to his desk or something? He sounded all hearty. There was even an uplift at the end of the sentence like it was a question. How is it possible that he's so *bad* over the phone? I finally extracted something acceptable from him which calmed me down.
But his words of support were something along the lines of "You've always got through things like this before." which made me want to scream. Why is it so completely unreassuring to hear that I've always got through things like this before? Granted, there were some physical factors in play this time that usually aren't there. My body was letting me down. But even without that, I think that reassurance would not sit well with me. It made me have the fleeting thought that I should go out and get a new therapist who didn't realize I had always gotten through this before. Is it more belittling of the problem than reassuring? Is it like hearing that I've always gotten A's, so I should always be able to continue to get A's? Is it not acknowledging that I get so darned tired of always managing to get through it, and that sometimes I want to just quit, even though I'm simultaneously terrified that I won't be able to live up to my obligations?
Why on earth is that phrase so absolutely infuriating?
poster:Dinah
thread:409822
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20041026/msgs/409822.html