Posted by backseatdriver on August 18, 2008, at 7:49:58
In reply to Update: Termination because of strong transference, posted by nebulae on August 17, 2008, at 21:59:57
Seconding LT ... I think you'd do really well with a good psychodynamic psychotherapist, someone who could create a safe space for your feelings, all of them, and help you work on them inside that space. What worked best, for me, was to do a lot of the ground work with a female psychodynamic psychotherapist, who helped me feel and name my feelings, and gave me the experience of having my feelings validated and contained. The work was slow but not very painful; the transference was maternal and relatively mild. It did not disrupt my life.
Then, after some time off, I switched to a male psychodynamic psychotherapist who is also an MD, and he's working with me on both the therapy and the medication. He is less nurturing and strictly supportive than the first therapist, but he still wants to work within the transference. This is very hard, especially without the support my first T gave me, because the transference is intense, but slowly I'm becoming psychologically more flexible and stronger somehow. The challenge is to stay with, to stay in it, to fight to relationship (as Dinah puts it) if necessary, to deal with conflict and uncertainty.
(FWIW, I have depression with PTSD.)
You might benefit from the same strategy: more nurturance now, to build you up for a different, more challenging kind of therapy later.
poster:backseatdriver
thread:846918
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20080810/msgs/846975.html