Thoughts on work

[muchabstracted]

There's a theme that you run into, reading books or articles about therapy. You inevitably come upon moments in which the therapist describes having had the following realization and conversation:

Therapist: Oh. Huh. I've been really irritating and unhelpful, haven't I?
Client: I like you anyway. You try.
Therapist: *facepalm*
(only, you know, motionless, 'cause you're not supposed to visibly *facepalm* around clients)

In articles and books, this sort of realization invariably leads into a description of what the therapist should have been doing all along. This suggests either that therapists can learn from experience or, alternatively, that we don't.

You: Erica, what on earth brought this on? As though I couldn't guess?
Me: *unmysterious and unrevealing*

Comments

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Oh good! I'm glad I didn't entirely mislead everyone.

I totally feel validated now (about the experience thing).

Also, it is reassuring, in an odd sort of way, that there is a difference between an inexperienced therapist and an experienced one.