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Reply to "co-dependency"

Man, am I ever relieved to hear you say you don't think exploring the relationship with Ex-T in the context of this article is appropriate. I hope your current T is of the same opinion. I agree for exactly the reasons you've outlined. Even with a T who has worked hard to minimise the power gap, the T is always responsible for their behaviour. It's as close to an absolute as you can get.

It sounds incredibly exhausting what you're going through. I suppose where I am standing, whether or not ex-T was a 'good guy' shouldn't necessarily have any bearing on whether you are allowed to feel angry, bereft and betrayed. I recognise the 'pendulum swinging' you're doing. I've done it and it's awful. Hug two

People can do crappy things without meaning to but it doesn't mean that the recipient has to suck it up and transcend the feelings that get elicited. Regardless of ex-T's intentions, your feelings are real, valid and justified and should be attended to. (Note, I am not saying that I think exT was a 'good guy that made mistakes' - I think it's incredibly complex and cannot be boiled down to a simple explanation, which is the hardest thing, IMO because our brains want it to be simple so we can sort out the horrible tangle of emotions and move on)

I suppose the only way I would think that this article is relevant to the therapeutic relationship is that I would think that people who find themselves ticking those boxes may be susceptible to getting really wounded in bad therapeutic relationships, and may find it harder to recognise abusive behaviour. I know that was the case with me because of my history. I suppose in that context the article could help give depth to understanding why you have been hurt so badly (echoes from the past etc) but TBH I think you already know this and have spoken about it in depth on here. I'm guessing current T won't know that though as you've only met a few times.

Do you know what you want to say about the article to your T when you next see her?
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