Analysts are weird. Give me a nice shallow CBT-er or Rogerian any day.

I jest, I jest (partly). The story does not ring a bell so I doubt I've heard it here before, but it's certainly a strange one. Maybe the strangest thing about it is it makes a certain amount of sense?

So. . . would you try to reschedule a surgery if your T asked you to??

I've definitely heard that story before, but I don't remember where. Sorry

I think maybe it would make more sense if we knew more context and what the surgery was for? Because there are some things you really, genuinely need surgery for...

interesting scenario. i agree with BLT that it depends on the type of surgery. from what little info is available, it does not sound like the surgery was life-threatening in any way. to me it sounds like it was a surgery that would improve quality of life, however? which is really quite important as well.

my last session with my T was exactly two months ago today, and i have thought about him every day since (my first thought of the day is of him, and the last thought of the day as well). needless to say, i miss him . okay, with that off my chest i'll get back to the story. i ended because insurance benefits get worse every year while premiums just keep going up. i have some physical quality-of-life issues that i would like to attend to before my benefits get even worse. i am concerned that in the future i will not be able to financially afford to have these things taken care of, and the conditions will deteriorate and quality-of-life decline even more. that's my thought process. it was really hard to make the decision to end therapy in order to take care of these physical issues.

it just brings up some good questions. there are physical quality-of-life issues and there are emotional/social/mental/etc-quality-of-life issues that therapy can help with. if given a choice, how do you go about making the decision of which is more important?

my T did not ask if i could put the physical issues on the back-burner. if he had, it would have thrown a wrench into the already difficult decision and it probably would really have ripped me up inside. at the end of the session he did allude to this being a "therapy vacation" vs. The End of therapy, which i have to say was rather comforting and gave me hope that i may just get to see him again. i don't want to never see him again.

Liese, thanks for the hypothetical. i'll be interested to see what others' thoughts are.

hi liese, interesting story but i find it disturbing and patronizing... i think i might have read it before, or maybe something similar. to me it also sounds a bit made up, like trying to prove a point,

and like CD writes, it sounds like there would have been a lot more behind this story, especially from the client't point of view.
((CD)) i'm really sorry you faced such a hard decision and had to chose between your physical and emotional wellbeing. they are all related so it is such a shame that you have to do them one by one. i'm sure that your physical issues impact on your emotional and mental issues and sometimes it is the other way around too.

it's a really tough question, i dont know what I would have done. i probably would have been stuck unable to chose. i think it is brave of you to be able to have made that decision. and i'm really glad that your therapist helped you with this (and called it a therapy vacation) rather then being an arrogant insensitive prick all about the unconscious (sorry liese, this story gets to me a bit!) i think a therapist cant hope to get through to your unconscious if he walks all over your conscious - there has to be some balance.

puppet

I thought I had read it either on a therapist's blog or in one of their books.
I would run so fast away from any therapist who thought they were that important to me it would not even be funny. It really just angers me to think about. It even upsets me that the client in the story chose the therapist.
Patronizing and smug are understatements, in my opinion.

I remember that story from somewhere, and am unsure where also.

I try to keep my unconscious very very very aware of therapy, my T is "part" rogerian though she is just plain eclectic IMHO - she does a bit of everything.

I think with T1 I've missed or had to cancel (well, now because of stupid work the count has gone higher - but we did have phone sessions) very few times, at least under 10 in almost 3 years. Any time I have had to my T will try to work it out with me or just gets kind of quiet with my choice.

I try to encourage my unconscious to remember... Im fighting for life or death in my therapy (in a way) and unless it's a life or death emergency I try to just get to my therapy. I also like routine... that's probably the main reason. Routine makes me all messed up. I get super dedicated to stuff sometimes.

I wasn't even thinking that anyone would have had to made a similar choice when I posted that and so, CD, I apologize if the story triggered you a bit.

I thought someone on the boards, actually, had an experience like that. I thought someone here had told their T that they couldn't come because they had to have therapy and the T said, can't you postpone it?

It is from a therapists blog.

no problems, Liese. i really think it's an interesting subject and i really am curious whether others have had similar experiences and if so, how they arrived at a decision. i'm glad you posted the question.

I can imagine my T saying something like this if the surgery wasn't immediately necessary to my health. I feel for you who are stuck in the awful position if having to choose between your physical and mental health, wouldn't happen here in Australia

Funnily enough, I just found the story without even looking for it: Click here. It's a little more than halfway down the page.

Kashley, how funny. That's where I got it from.

CD, the difference between your situation and the situation in the story is that in the story, the surgery turned out to be unnecessary. In your case, you have some serious quality of life issues.

I am so glad your T left the door open for you to return. Do you have a goal in mind in terms of what you want to take care of before you go back to therapy?