www.voicelessness.com
www.voicelessness.com
Dreams, Imagined Dreams:
Failed Therapy
Failed Therapy
Copyright © 2009 by Richard A. Grossman, Ph.D. · All Rights reserved · E-Mail: ragrossman@voicelessness.com
unconscious. "An overtly sexual dream about me."
"Gee, I don't think so. I would remember that."
He paged through the notebook in which he wrote down all his patients' dreams. He went forwards and then backwards. Then the room went silent.
I thought of how to respond. "It must have been another patient," seemed possible. Or, in a light-hearted way, "Maybe it was a dream you had about me." But the former seemed lame, and I dared not say the latter for he would not have found it funny. So, instead I reverted back to my childhood ways and said nothing. He never mentioned the dream again, nor did I. I was afraid he would become accusatory if I brought the matter up.
A few months later I thought it time to end therapy—I thought we had talked about my life sufficiently, and I assumed it was healthy that I assert myself. But Dr. Edberg thought it was a bad idea and suggested I stay because our "work" wasn't finished—he even suggested I come twice a week. I knew from experience that twice a week therapy was helpful for many patients--why wouldn’t it be helpful to me? Yet, I had no desire to come a second time—even after all the time we had spent together. Still, how could I end therapy when Dr. Edberg was suggesting I needed to come more often? Dr. Edberg seemed to have no better sense of who I was and what I needed than when we started. Still, one could attribute my dissatisfaction to "transference,” the resurrection of familiar childhood feelings. Perhaps he knew me better than I knew myself—wasn’t he the expert? Wasn’t that why I had gone to him in the first place?
Soon I had another dream.
Page 5
"Gee, I don't think so. I would remember that."
He paged through the notebook in which he wrote down all his patients' dreams. He went forwards and then backwards. Then the room went silent.
I thought of how to respond. "It must have been another patient," seemed possible. Or, in a light-hearted way, "Maybe it was a dream you had about me." But the former seemed lame, and I dared not say the latter for he would not have found it funny. So, instead I reverted back to my childhood ways and said nothing. He never mentioned the dream again, nor did I. I was afraid he would become accusatory if I brought the matter up.
A few months later I thought it time to end therapy—I thought we had talked about my life sufficiently, and I assumed it was healthy that I assert myself. But Dr. Edberg thought it was a bad idea and suggested I stay because our "work" wasn't finished—he even suggested I come twice a week. I knew from experience that twice a week therapy was helpful for many patients--why wouldn’t it be helpful to me? Yet, I had no desire to come a second time—even after all the time we had spent together. Still, how could I end therapy when Dr. Edberg was suggesting I needed to come more often? Dr. Edberg seemed to have no better sense of who I was and what I needed than when we started. Still, one could attribute my dissatisfaction to "transference,” the resurrection of familiar childhood feelings. Perhaps he knew me better than I knew myself—wasn’t he the expert? Wasn’t that why I had gone to him in the first place?
Soon I had another dream.
Page 5
Voicelessness and Emotional Survival
Dreams, Imagined Dreams:
Failed Therapy
Pg. 4
Dreams, Imagined Dreams:
Failed Therapy
Pg. 4
Voicelessness and
Emotional Survival
Emotional Survival
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