Posted by Karen_kay on December 17, 2003, at 15:08:39
Does anyone else become offended when their therapist starts blatantly spoon feeding you their obvious line of crap that they learned in school and tell every other client that walks in the door?
Case and point. I was angry and finally getting some things off of my chest. I wasn't pretending that I had a good childhood. I was complaining about all of the bad things that happened to me and I just wanted to complain. And I continued to complain about how much life sucks now as well. (so, I'm stressed, it Is the holidays, I DO have finals AND I keep having nightmares.) I just wanted to complain about how much life sucks. Well, I suppose he thought that was his cue to start this line of crap about all of my good qualities. (Which it wasn't thank you! I just wanted to complain. Sheesh! Sometimes he just needs to shut up and listen!) And he's tried this before and I've told him several times before that I don't appreciate it. I don't like what appear to be false compliments. And they appear to be false to me because it just sounds like run-of-the-mill, text book, shrink stuff. Like something you would learn in How to be a Shrink 101. "Tell your client that s/he is intelligent. Tell your client that s/he has a passion for (insert anything that s/he seems remotely interested in here). Tell your client that s/he has a decent relationship. Tell your client that s/he is dedicated to getting better. ect.." Am I the only one who gets annoyed and offended by this? He's wasting my time with this crap AND making me hostile in the process. And I just glare at him. I've told him several times that I dislike this crap quite a bit. It isn't creative, to say the least. Yet, he continues. So, I roll my eyes. I realized early on that there is no point in arguing with him. I wouldn't argue that I'm not any of those things, just that I don't appreciate the compliment so please stop. So, I sit there, uncomfortable as hell, and endure. And the rest of the session is tense. Because he screwed up. Not because I can't take a compliment, but because I feel like he is being condescending. At the very least he could say, "You are witty, stylish and have long legs." ACK! I've found it! I'm going to make my own list of compliments and take it to him. If he approves them then he can start using them! (And for fun, I'll put a few inappropriate ones in the mix, just to see what he says....So, what does your therapist do that gets your goat? Do you let him/her know? Does s/he still continue to do it? What do you do, other than glare (which isn't very effective)?
Also, does anyone here know much about the accuracy of dreams? My therapist says that dreams can also represent memories. I want to disagree but I'm not knowledgable in the subject. But, I can still disagree with him until I have proof otherwise. So, any help would be appreciated!
poster:Karen_kay
thread:291010
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20031213/msgs/291010.html