Posted by Dinah on December 31, 2011, at 11:52:43
In reply to Thinking about.........termination......., posted by Twinleaf on December 29, 2011, at 23:48:19
I think it's great that you're having these thoughts while you are in a good place with your therapist. Do you think thoughts of his age might be encouraging you to be independent?
Are you actually using the "T" word? Even when I am most confident in my ability to do without my therapist, whether I'm bored or angry, I can't use the "T" word. What an awful choice of words. It conjures up annihilation and death.
It's totally understandable why analysts considered termination an essential part of the analytic process. Saying goodbye forever to a parental figure is terrifying. Certainly if one can get through that, one could consider oneself thoroughly analyzed.
I'm glad we live in a different time.
I think I'll just consider myself currently without any scheduled appointments. Until he dies, I'll think of my therapist as my therapist. And I'll think that I can pick up the phone and make an appointment whenever I need one. I just won't need one at the moment.
I'm no good at goodbyes. With my father and with a few of my dogs, I make sure I think of them every day so that I won't lose the sense of their presence even though they're dead.
So, I suppose I'm saying I'd be inclined to just space my appointments further apart over time, to the point where I might not have one currently scheduled.
I'm *not* thoroughly analzyed.
poster:Dinah
thread:1005861
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20111220/msgs/1006013.html