Posted by onceupon on November 23, 2008, at 20:59:57
In reply to The L word with T?, posted by JayMac on November 22, 2008, at 12:31:16
I find it quite courageous of you to consider telling your therapist, out loud, that you love her. It's the out loud part that really impresses me :)
Years ago, when I was seeing a different therapist, I got to the point where I told her I felt "loving feelings" towards her. Somehow that felt less threatening than telling her outright that I loved her. I added that I hoped to feel love from her in return (just a therapy kind of love). I don't remember exactly how she responded, just that I felt both relieved that I had said it, and disappointed that her response seemed lacking. Over time I came to appreciate that my therapist cared about me a great deal. And she did tell me at one point that she felt kind of like a big sister towards me. She never did tell me she loved me though. And that's OK, I guess, in that I certainly wouldn't want her to say something that she didn't feel. It made me think, though, about how everyone feels a little differently about the word "love." Sometimes it can seem so loaded in a therapy setting, even when I don't think it has to.
poster:onceupon
thread:864636
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20081120/msgs/864944.html