Posted by Dinah on August 21, 2003, at 20:33:11
In reply to Is obsession with a therapist really transference?, posted by jane d on August 20, 2003, at 22:12:28
Absolutely, the feelings you have for your therapist can be based on that relationship alone, without any baggage from the past. (Or at least not without any more baggage than we normally carry around).
But I guess the difference is the intensity of the feelings we have for our therapists balanced with how little we really know them. I mean we don't really know them more than we do any other service providers in our lives but I don't think most people get as emotionally attached to their, oh.. darn. Can't think of an example.
So I think of transference as more attachment than can really be considered reasonable based on the level of reciprocal intimacy in the relationship.
Of course, the baggage from our past affects every relationship in our life. You know how I'm always afraid I've made my friends mad? I'm always afraid I've made my therapist mad too. I'm always afraid I've made everyone I care about mad. So ideally we could work on that in the therapeutic relationship more easily than other relationships. Ideally anyway......
poster:Dinah
thread:251041
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030814/msgs/252927.html