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What would you do? - continuing relationship after therapy ends

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Nope never, most time I asked him things. It helped me greatly in building trust and comfort and I HATE attention so I could not handle the entire time being soley on me... so I liked it. I only regret being dumb enough to think he liked me that way.
 
he told me he can't tell me anything about himself it's against the rules...and says he doesn't. Fair enough only, he does, a lot and very personal. He went on and on one session about his divorce. I know so much random odd things about him and I remember nearly all of it and he has a horrible memory and often forgets things about me. I didn't like that he pretended to be innocent about that.

My therapist did and does this. He used his own personal family as an example of how a family is supposed to be. He'd told me a pretty fair amount about him, his wife, his children, his grand daughter (I knew when his daughter became preg and how - by implanting embrios - and when she was born). He has brought a lot of himself in sessions to help me. And I also remember all of it. And he often asks me the same question a few weeks in a row and it hurt me as well. Until I realized that he sees many patients. He sees a patient every hour of the day. Many, many, people a day every day. I only see him. I don't have to retain information of others. I have a file and he makes notes every session and I am sure that jogs his memory but to remember every detail or every piece of information someone tells you when you see many people every day and this one person is just one of them that comes weekly just isn't possible.

Though, your feelings about it are vaild. Understanding that helped me to not be so hurt over it. That's all.

He claimed I didn't know him really, again, I disagree, I know enough of him to consider it a friendship or like one..... he was snarky and was like, for all you know I'm a nazi. Really rude comment

Maybe a bad example but he's right. You feel like you know him but honestly you really don't. Again, something I had to explore on my own but you have no idea how much he tells you, how much he doesn't, or what he truely is like outside of sessions. I can tell you my therapist's polical party, what he thinks about that subject, what religon he practices and what he thinks in that area, what his family is like, how many kids he has, how old they are, that he only has one grand child and how old she is, what he likes to do, his hobbies, where he and his wife like to hang out at or go to but I really do not know him outside of sessions and what he is choosing to share with me and what he withholds. I don't really know him.

The theraputic relationship is a unique one and its common to feel close to your therapist. Thats actually transference. But that is why boundries are so important and it sounds, still, like your therapy lacks clear boundries. That is his fault. He is lay those boundries and come back to them as often as needed so they remain clear.

I told him people online have done it and I thought it was ok to ask. He said, they all should be reported.

I agree with him.

This part was the worst for me, literally last week, he assured me TWICE that he would never change boundaries on me when ending... then he says "Texting and emails have to end at some point" but then after that went on to say, but you can keep in touch with updates, ummm how if that's all ending?

Come back into therapy. My therapist says some old patients will come and see hin fron time to time, as a therapy session.

Many people on the site email and text their therapist. My therapist doesn't allow it and I have no idea what his cell # is. That's a boundry. To me, it sounds like he realized there are not clear boundries and there is tranaference and is maybe trying to set some boundries.

I don't see how this can be healthy personally. Again, I blame him, not you. But this attachment is why and what you are going through now. It is why boundries and those boundries being clear is so important.
 
He claimed I didn't know him really, again, I disagree, I know enough of him to consider it a friendship or like one..... he was snarky and was like, for all you know I'm a nazi. Really rude comment
This is actually a great example of how you don't actually know him. There's an aspect of his personality that you find snarky and rude. You might not have seen that part before.

I'd just really encourage you to stick with it, if you can, and work on how to exist in this relationship that is not mutual friendship, but where you are actually the larger part.
 
Yes but that's just it, you don't ever REALLY know someone until you start becoming friends etc, that is how you get to know people, which is what I've never understood about this "idea"... like to be fair, he doesn't really know me either then, he can't ever see how I am outside the office, you know, the real me....?? seems crazy but it is what it is i guess
 
You know @DogLover33, I think my therapist knows me much better then I know him (or that I even know myself) because of the mass quanity of information about me he has recieved. I've told him all of my deepest darkest secerts that one only tells those most close to them. Even more stuff then you would tell those closest to you. But I cannot say the same for him.
 
You know @DogLover33, I think my therapist knows me much better then I kno...

True but again that's the point in friendships you get to know people better... however my therapist forgets a ton of things I say to him.... and I don't have any deep secrets, my life is pretty lame. My best friend knows a lot of the same stuff he does but she just lives far away and has no really good answers for me.
 
like to be fair, he doesn't really know me either then, he can't ever see how I am outside the office, you know, the real me
You're right, he doesn't really know you - you see him for an hour a week, and you take what's important to you but he doesn't know you day by day, can't possibly know every area of your life.

The therapeutic relationship is a real conundrum - intimate but formal, friendly but not friends. It's there to serve a particular purpose and when it's done, it's usually best that it's done.
 
True but again that's the point in friendships you get to know people better... however my therapist forgets a ton of things I say to him

Your therapist isn't your friend, he's your therapist and maybe he isn't truely listening to you. Maybe thats why he forgets things you say. That's completely possible and wouldn't suprise me. But, it is also possible that he is seeing lots of people back to back and you are just one of a sea of people and he has to remember things for each person. Its not possible to remember every single detail of every single person he sees. So its possible thats the reason he forget things as well.

and I don't have any deep secrets, my life is pretty lame. My best friend knows a lot of the same stuff he does but she just lives far away and has no really good answers for me.

Maybe. Maybe your therapist knows things about your trauma that your best friend doesnt know or maybe stuff like your thoughts. Congitive distortions or even suicidal thoughts? What about attachment issues and things of that nature? Low self esteem issues? Im boring too but my therapist knows about things that there is no way id tell anyone else. Things that are embarrasing or are taboo. Things that people just don't talk about. Things that happened to me that are so detailed and so graphic that I would not be able to tell another without first sugar coating it a shit ton first. He knows about my sexual behaviors and fanisies. He knows about behaviors I used to do that were not right morally. Or really in anyway. The deepest darkest part of myself he knows. Though you maybe boring, we all have a deep dark place and secerts we keep. There's a reason you're in therapy. And yeah, maybe your so open and honest that you tell your best friend everything that you tell your therapist but my point is, this is we tell our therapists things we would never tell another soul and thats how they get to know us better then we even know ourselves. But, that isn't true the other way around. You do indeed play the larger part in the theraputic relationship and the therapist holds a lot of power due to how vulerable we allow ourselves to become in therapy. There are ethics for a reason and if your therapist allowed a friendship to occur he would actually be traumatizing you. Or at least hurting you in a large way. That is why the therapists of those online that allowed it without the allowed amount of years of seperation should be reported as they are actually taking advange of there patient. Again, the theraputic relationship is very unique in that reguard. Where rational thinking (like being my therapist's friend outside of sessions is a bad idea) sometimes isn't possible, attachment and abandonment issues can occur (and other issues as well), where it's normal for transference, erotic transference, and counter transference to occur. It is not an equal relationship. He holds all the power and you are at your most vulernable and he isn't. And this is why boundries are so darn important here. So that asking him to be your friend outside of therapy won't even be something you'd think to ask him because he has already laid down that boundry. Therapy without boundries is like driving a car blind. It is that important. And again, that's his fault, not yours. He should have laid those long ago and he should have made sure they were clear and he damn well shouldn't of let you hang in his office after session. All of that are red flags. And if he says that emails and texting need to stop one day that tells me that is something he doesn't allow for everyone or it is used to discuss things other then therapy things and again, that shouldn't of occured. These boundries need to be laid now and they need to be clear and adhered to by both of you.

My therapist tells me that many of his patients have tried to facebook friend him and he politely turns them down. A "thank you for the offer but no thank you" sort of thing. So, the fact that he didn't approach it quite right which left you feeling hurt is also a big red flag. I know that we are all responsible on how we feel about something and no one can make you feel anything without first you allowing them to, with all of that in mind my therapist helps me to understand why. If I am hurt or angry (and I have been very hurt by my therapist before and very angry, yelling at him, before) he turns that into a therapy oppurtunity. He is very gentle with his approach and helps me understand the whys of it and helps me to self reflect to understand why I feel a certian way. The fact that your therapist didnt do that do that doesn't make him a bad therapist but it is a red flag in my mind that maybe he isn't the right therapist for you. Just my opinion though.

With all of that being said. I think this would be far more productive if you stopped trying to justify why your therapist should be your friend and can be your friend and others have done it, etc and started to explore why you so badly want him to be your friend. Why are you not happy with just therapist? Why do you feel so strongly that he needs to be your friend? What are you missing in the friend area that you feel your therapist can fill for you?
 
Your therapist isn't your friend, he's your therapist and maybe he isn't truely listening to...

Actually he is dealing with grief,which is effecting his memory... I know it to be true as I have my own grief I've been through recently and my memory was effected

I am not even caring anymore about the friend thing.... I was merely pointing out that "logic" is stupid to me. Anyway, I don't want to be friends with fake people, so I'm surely not interested in that anymore. He can go be fake with someone else.

I have no interest in friendships. I'm tired of trying that, I got my dog and my best friend, I'm good. I only am going tomorrow to try to deal with some of my feelings, not convince him of anything. I am seeing if there is any hope to salvage things or if I need to leave for good. I know I can't trust him the same anymore, it already feels different going in tomorrow. I have every intention if we keep working together to tell him not to say anything to me anymore about himself or joke around with me. I just want serious, and "professional", nothing more.
 
I only am going tomorrow to try to deal with some of my feelings, not convince him of anything.
This is good. Really good. Therapy is for dealing with your feelings, not your therapist's.
I am seeing if there is any hope to salvage things or if I need to leave for good.
How will you know if it's salvagable? What would that feel like for you?
 
I just wanna run away and never see another
I wish I had a dollar for every time I've thought exactly that!

It sounds like that went pretty badly. I'd bet he's wishing he could have a do over on a bunch of it, going back quite a ways. That's on him, but you might want to give him another chance.

I've never been very good at relationships, of any sort. One of the things I've learned through therapy is that relationships are complicated. They involve misunderstandings and miscommunications, and confusion, along with a lot of good stuff. It pays to muddle through, make and allow mistakes, and see where you end up. You can ALWAYS quit. I've had a couple HUGE misunderstandings with my T. Working through them has been really valuable. First time in my life there was a "safe" place to do something like that.

I do know people who have maintained friendships with a therapist after therapy ends. There have been conversations, the way I understand it, and clear communication about how the relationship changes. I know more people who DON'T have a friendship with their T after therapy ends. In my own case, I really like my T. I think he probably genuinely likes me. I know he has a few friends who were once clients. But I don't expect that to happen in my case. And that's not because he thinks I'm worthless, or because the relationship we have is fake. It's because it just doesn't make much sense.

As far as "knowing" another person goes, I'm not sure we ever really, totally, know another person. We know parts of them, and we think we know parts of them, but, because we all occupy our own place in the universe, you can never really be sure you're right, when you think you know someone. Actually, personally, I find the learning part interesting. The sense that you "know" someone feels safe. Two different things and each valuable in it's own way. I guess, for me, there's a difference between "getting to know someone" and being friends. I've got a bunch of clients. To a point, I "know" all of them, some better than others. Some of them I actually think of as friends. Some are "just" clients. I know them enough to do my job, most of them I like. Some of them I actually don't like much. That's just the way it goes, it's not some kind of value judgement.
 
Actually he is dealing with grief,which is effecting his memory... I know it to be true as I have my own grief I've been through recently and my memory was effected
Grief is a very different thing in different people, you can't assume that his memory is affected by grief because your own was. If he has a large caseload the chances are he will forget things, because he's human and we all forget. It's also possible that he'll forget something that was really important to you because he didn't realise it was important.

My sense is that there's a lot unspoken between you which, in therapy, isn't a good thing because it leads to assumptions on both sides. I hope you are able to go and just focus on and deal with your own feelings, your T is more than able to look after himself, you don't need to worry about him.
 
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