Posted by peddidle on May 4, 2007, at 11:52:06
In reply to Weird Session, posted by TherapyGirl on May 3, 2007, at 20:04:04
It sounds like you have this pretty much figured out already, but I just thought I'd give you my support. I think the others were right about calling your T-- I understand your desire to be respectful towards this person who has an obvious disability, but that doesn't trump the rights you are entitled to as a client.
Sometimes, my T tells me things at the beginning of the session that kind of throw me. On the one hand, I love that she is so real, and not afraid to tell me about her life, but on the other hand, I almost wish she didn't tell me certain things, because then I fixate on them for the rest of the session. Last week, my T told me that we had to end early because her son's school had just called and said that he bumped his head. At first, I was concerned about him, but then she told me he was fine and just had a little bump, I'm only 22, so obviously I don't fully understand the whole mother/child relationship, but she has very young kids, so I'm guessing it was more about him being scared and wanting his mother, than it was about him actually being hurt. I know my T is very good about putting everything out of her mind and focusing on her clients, but I still couldn't help but think her mind was somewhere else during the session. On top of that, I also felt bad that I was keeping her there when she should have been with her son.
Anyway, my point with that whole meaningless story is that I know how much something small like that can throw me, so I can only imagine how upsetting your experience was.
If it makes you feel better, you could try thinking about it this way: depending on what this person's disability is, respect for privacy, manners, etc. may be important issues for your T to address with her.
That machine that drowns out voices sounds like a good idea, too. ;)
Let us know what your T says.
poster:peddidle
thread:755618
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070419/msgs/755770.html