One T I had used to try to get me angry the session before the break, I'm pretty sure - I think she felt like angry energy would help power me through it, and it worked!! For me it was better than feeling abandoned.

J

LG... I used to feel like my oldT was distant and detached before he left for vacations but I would question it to myself becuase I thought maybe it was just me that was backing away from him. That maybe I was trying to come to terms with losing him for those weeks. I remember walking in last Christmas before he left for vacation all shut down and telling him I was afraid to leave there feeling bad over anything. He promised we would not end in a bad way and he kept to his word and I got a lovely hug from him.

Fast forward to this summer when he was leaving for 3 weeks vacation ... he solved the problem by just terminating me the day before his vacation. Guess he had a clear mind and didn't have to worry about getting any contact from me or worrying about how I was doing while he was gone on vacation. Not the best solution for the patient

I'm sorry to hear the bad news about your brother. I hope the doctors can help him and he comes out of this okay. Maybe T1 was just feeling really stressed. Or it could well be that she didn't want to go too deep knowing she would not be available to help you sort things out while she was gone.

Our guts can tell us a lot if we pay attention.

Hugs to you
TN

My T has such an even temperament that it doesn't seem like he's more distant before a break than at other times. However, he does make a point of bringing up the topic of the break, and how I might feel about it consciously and unconsciously. He also brings it up after a break.

I see him tonight and then not again until the 3rd. At the moment, the only thing I feel is vaguely disappointed that I won't have him to talk to during the holidays.

Russ

Good question! I certaintly know alot about ME doing some serious distance work (at least i try) before a long break, but i havent thought about the other way around- That T`s doing it as well.. Hm, i dont think my T does it, but indeed he tried to trigger some anger in me the last coupples of session before this break. I dont think thats unusual at all! Like jones said, its rather a helpful "angry power" that needs to be released, in order to not end up feeling totally abandoned. The last session T seemed a little withdrawn- but i figured it was more about ME being unable to connect.. Projection or something..? I really wished i had more knowlidge about what emotions T dealing with before a vacation. If any, at all.
LadyGrey: its possible that your T is both stressed or/and are being more distant that usual, - it can also be that you`re projecting here? i dunno. But its very interesting..

I had a my last session yesterday before my T goes on vacation and he was definitely being weird. I've only been seeing him for a few months but he's always very serious, almost stoic. But this time he was laughing, joking and talking about Tv shows. Very out of character for him, and when I told him he was being "weird" he told me it was for us to banter a little and that I needed to laugh more. It was interesing to say the least.

I didn't really feel like a productive session...We didn't really get into anything deep. Maybe it was better this way. It was one of the first sessions that I've had with that I didn't feel horrible afterward. I think it was for the best since I won't be seeing him for a while. Hopefully he did all this on purpose (at least I think he was).