HB,
That is so true! I can still vividly remember saying to my T in a session "but I'll get hurt" and him looking at me and saying "so what?" (He knows the good use of an occasional shock that man.) It was such an incredibly foreign concept. My life and so much of what I did and the choices I made were organized around NOT getting hurt because I had no idea what to do with the pain if I felt it. Learning what to do with the pain is what has freed me.

My T has told me over and over that in any relationship, even my relationship with him which is totally focused on my needs, there will be disappointments and failures. I'm going to get hurt. But that doesn't mean the end of the relationship or my destruction. The point of relationship is to get what you need to repair the hurt and continue. There's an incredible freedom in it and in realizing that you have the strength you need. Thanks for this reminder.

AG