Russ, thank you for the thought provoking topic and discussion. My T does work well with me but it has not been without some major disruptions over time. We do always manage to repair them and move on. Part of my commitment to him is probably because of my attachment to him. It keeps me going to therapy despite the rough patches. And when I tell him that he knows me so well he responds with "that's because you allow me to know you". He never takes credit for anything that I do and makes me see that it is me who has done the work. Beyond that, it has taken over a year for us to get to the point of touch (so he knew my history and was able to make a judgement call on that) and for him to self-disclose on certain issues we are working on. So I really do believe that each T/patient relationship is different and the T needs to adjust his boundaries and his style for whatever works best for the patient.

I am so glad to hear that your T is connected to you and your feelings and that he has a sense of humor. I find that humor is very important in therapy. It's another good way to get that connection. In the end what really matters is that we are comfortable with our T and that we feel we are making some progress, even if it's infintessimal... it's still progress!

Be well,
TN