Posted by wishingstar on September 9, 2008, at 21:55:03
In reply to Re: therapist crying, posted by WaterSapphire on September 9, 2008, at 6:02:02
I think the idea of therapists crying in session is incredibly interesting because it can mean so many different things. It has happened to me twice, with two different therapists, for two completely different reasons.
The first time was a few years ago with my old T Anne who later terminated me in a terrible way. I was telling her about something that had recently occured where I'd trusted my parents (my first mistake) and their lack of following through had cost me several thousand dollars that could have been avoided. My T teared up as I talked about that. I was more angry than hurt, but really wasnt expressing any emotion all that strongly. It definitely seemed to trigger something in her that wasnt about me because emotional involvement with clients was NOT her thing. It was interesting.
The second time was a few years ago as well. I was seeing the wonderful old T who I talk about sometimes here. I was at one of my lowest points ever.. really miserable and barely functioning.. and could barely look at her. I was fighting tears and was trying to tell her that I felt like she was the only one who would care if I died. It was a very difficult, emotional moment for me. She said something about how seeing my pain made her cry and I looked up and she had teared up. Unlike the example above, I do think those tears were more for me and that moment than something in her life. It was touching and meant so much to me, and still does. Therapist or not, it said to me that she truly does care about me.
If a T cried too often or more than a tear or two, I think it'd be very hard for me because I'd immediately want to switch roles and care for him/her. It'd be next to impossible for me to ignore their emotional reaction and continue talking about myself. I think that can be both a positive and negative character trait for me.
poster:wishingstar
thread:850826
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20080906/msgs/851248.html