I will talk about it since I have come to know this as a helpful place.

This has required some thought and there are a couple of different dynamics playing out for me in this situation, but here's at least part of my angst:

Pretty much all of my life, people have said to me, "Oh, Affinity, you are so smart and wise and special." But then they have turned around and said, "You're a little naïve, though, so I'm keeping you from X to protect you." In many cases, these things were purely innocent and things I wanted very much. A few times I resisted this 'protection,' but many times I just went along with their reasoning because their reasons seemed good.

But then I often discovered later on that this 'protection' was merely a form of control. Many of these people claiming to protect me either abused/betrayed me outright (exposing me to things I really DID need to be protected from) or simply refused to accept or respect me as a person.

Now, I know my T accepts and respects me and, at some level, even loves me. But when he says, "I'm doing this for your protection," what I really hear is, "You're a little kid who is too naïve to understand that X is bad." I can tell myself all day long that it's different this time, but it absolutely FEELS the same - especially in the face of knowing that he does this for other clients. And there's a grown woman inside of me screaming WHEN THE F**K DO I GET TO PROTECT MYSELF?? TO DECIDE FOR MYSELF?? Because if there's one thing on this planet I absolutely cannot stand, it's feeling powerless.

And I have felt powerless for a very, very long time.