Psychotherapy is a complicated process, fraught with its own difficulties that a person doesn’t always understand or appreciate. One of those difficulties is understanding the boundaries between you and the therapist, and how to keep them intact all the while the therapist is asking (or demanding) that you “open up” more and be completely honest.

Sonia Neale, blogging over at Therapy Unplugged, recently wrote a great entry describing 10 methods she’s used to help deal with therapist dependency — that is, becoming dependent upon your therapist:

When an emotionally intense person gets hooked on therapy, it’s hard to give up that dependency and become your own person; you just want to get legally adopted by your therapist and walk together hand in hand towards the quintessential sunset. So while those emotions don’t just disappear overnight, they do have to go somewhere else.

Some interesting tips in the list there, and some that may be helpful to you if you’re currently dealing with this issue in your own therapy.

Read the full entry: The Darker Side of Therapy – Ten Ways to Deal with Dependency

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 23 Sep 2009
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