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Is it acceptable to be a therapist’s friend?
Recap. If you’re in therapy right now, you can anticipate an approachable therapist. They should feel comfortable, confident, and sympathetic around you. Although you can be friendly, you shouldn’t be friends. Even though therapists are not required to show their patients concern, care, or love, you should look for one who does. Find a person who can empathize with you, wants to fully comprehend you, and takes your entire context into account.Though it’s frequently overlooked, hidden, or even shamed, loving your therapist is fundamentally human. It frequently indicates that therapy is having a positive effect. The early psychologists saw the love that develops between a therapist and a client as a type of transference or countertransference.The context of their actions is therefore crucial in determining whether or not your therapist is attracted to you. The behaviors may include a lowering of boundaries, such as extending sessions beyond their scheduled time or returning your calls in between sessions, or if they seem to actively seek out opportunities to touch you.One of the most significant, illuminating, and fruitful partnerships you’ll ever have is with your therapist. But it should end eventually, and that is on purpose. Licensed therapist Keir Gaines claims that therapy isn’t meant to last forever.
What does it mean to be a therapist friend?
A therapist friend is a person in your friend group who you can lean on for support and guidance when you’re feeling down. Although they might not always be licensed therapists, they are respected for always being willing to listen and offer guidance. Your current issues, as well as your past and background, will be discussed during the therapy session. Most likely, you’ll find yourself discussing your current symptoms or difficulties while also briefly mentioning your relationships, interests, strengths, and goals.Even if you don’t speak with each other outside of sessions, your therapist still has a relationship with you. She keeps recalling significant moments from your conversations as the week progresses. She might even change her mind about an intervention or opinion she expressed during a session.Tell your therapist about all of your relationships, including those with your partner, your family, and your friends. Do you feel like you have support at home? Do you feel like you have other people to share your feelings with, or do you have difficulty opening up with others too, not just your therapist?You may be surprised to know that what you are experiencing with your therapist isn’t uncommon. You are most likely going through erotic transference, which is a condition where a patient has romantic or sensual thoughts about their therapist.
When you feel like a friend of the therapist, what should you do?
Be kind to yourself, as it is not your place to be someone else’s therapist or to fix their problems. Many times, just witnessing another person’s suffering and simply listening is sufficient. In order to be able to be there for your friends when they need you, set boundaries, get enough sleep, and go for a walk outside. With empathy, genuineness, and trust, a strong rapport can be built, and therapists are able to communicate and direct their patients in a way that facilitates healing. Patients feel more open and willing to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with their therapist when this occurs.Some friends have excellent listening skills and can offer sound guidance. Nonetheless, only a therapist has the skills and training to help improve your mental health without risking any damage to your personal relationships. Additionally fundamentally different from friendship is the therapeutic relationship.It is common to want to keep talking to friends about emotionally upsetting events in our lives. However, this unloading can result in compassion failure and a loss of problem-solving skills. Effective therapists do more than just listen; they also assist patients in identifying doable solutions to their problems.A counselor may aid a client in gaining a deeper comprehension of their emotions during a talk therapy session. Be able to get over your fears and anxiety.
What personality type best describes a therapist friend?
INFP. Because they are adept at reading and empathizing with their friends, INFPs make excellent therapy partners. The INFP friend is typically always up for deep conversations and can help you make sense of situations you just want to chat to your bestie about. They are not big on superficial friendships.Your bond with your therapist can also provide a safe way to explore how you navigate relationships in general. Mental health professionals are trained to hold and contain your feelings, while largely setting aside their own. This is part of what makes the relationship so unique and therapeutic.Yes, You Should Like Your Therapist Working with someone you generally like can facilitate feelings of connection in therapy. When feeling connected, you may have an easier time opening up to them.Recap. If you are currently in therapy, expect your therapist to be someone who is easy to talk to. Your relationship with them should be warm, trusting, and empathetic. While you can be friendly, you should not be friends.
Why is a therapist better than a friend?
Therapists Are Objective and Unbiased When friends become attached to you, they can’t see your life clearly. They sometimes want to be on your side even if that means missing the opportunity to help. Therapists have no emotional stake in the situation, Glick said, so they can provide unbiased guidance. Therapy starts to become more difficult when you start to come up against some of your psychological defenses. These are the ways that your mind keeps feelings, memories, and thoughts that are painful or threatening out of your awareness.Therapists do get frustrated with clients from time to time, but some can handle difficult clients better than others. This may be due to training or inherent personality traits.If a client asks for advice, the therapist might offer an opinion, share their thoughts or encourage a client to try a thinking strategy. This form of advice aligns with the nature of therapy because it still allows clients to build their coping skills and act on their own. It is different than telling them what to do.Perhaps the most extensive literature on therapist fear focuses on fear of assaults.In fact, therapy can be harmful, with research showing that, on average, approximately 10 per cent of clients actually get worse after starting therapy. Yet belief in the innocuousness of psychotherapy remains persistent and prevalent.
Is therapy like talking to a friend?
Because a therapy session is totally and completely about you, it isn’t quite a two-way conversation. A therapist or psychiatrist is actually trained to listen. They are not only listening to what you are saying, they are listening for what you are not saying. The therapist should be able to explain to the client new ways of thinking and assessing situations and relationships. They should also give the person tactics and techniques to help improve their mental health outside of therapy sessions.Going to a therapist can provide benefits that go beyond just having someone to talk to. Skills-based therapies provide strategies that can be used outside therapy in many aspects of your life.Therapist Job Responsibilities: Diagnoses and treats mental health disorders. Creates individualized treatment plans according to patient needs and circumstances. Meets with patients regularly to provide counseling, treatment and adjust treatment plans as necessary. Conducts ongoing assessments of patient progress.
Can you hug your therapist?
None of the ethics boards that regulate mental health professionals specifically prohibit the use of touch or view it as unethical. There are times when your therapist may believe that it’s more harmful to you not to initiate a hug. In some cases, nonsexual, therapeutic touch may be beneficial. When is it OK to hug your therapist? If you believe you’re safe and comfortable with a hug from your therapist, it doesn’t hurt to ask for one. Of course, your therapist has a right to say no.Hugs may be acceptable in therapy, and sometimes they aren’t. This is all dependent on various factors in the therapeutic relationship and individual characteristics of you and your therapist. Remember, your relationship with your clinician can be close — but it should remain a professional one.Can your therapist initiate a hug? A therapist can hug a client if they think it may be productive to the treatment. A therapist initiating a hug in therapy depends on your therapist’s ethics, values, and assessment of whether an individual client feels it will help them.In the end, there isn’t a huge need to ask your therapist if they like you—especially if you’re making progress in therapy. Because you wouldn’t be making progress if there wasn’t some sort of positive connection between you. But it’s actually a good thing to ask them.You may follow your therapist (if they feel okay), but they may not follow you back. Feeling weird about it? Talk to them, understand their boundary better from their words.