So Robert Spitzer's Apology struck a nerve: apologies made or received, or not. More like, Robert Spitzer's apology stuck a fork into a 220 volt socket, the nerve labeled Apology in the Clinical Setting, Or Not.
I have long been curious about this issue. Fork in the 220 volt socket kind of curious. I watched with wonderment as a therapist handled my complaint, which was, to me, about a life-threatening experience, steering the conversation away, time and again, from what I thought was the simplest, most natural direction, I'm sorry.
Now, I trusted this person. Her avoidance of those words, her downright circumlocutions confused me. My brain has long practice in making sense of the nonsensical behavior of people I trust. So I decided there must be a rule, a therapy rule, that says a therapist shouldn't apologize, because it diverts attention from the real issue, which is about the client's mother, and not about the therapist at all. Or something like that.
I have long been curious about this issue. Fork in the 220 volt socket kind of curious. I watched with wonderment as a therapist handled my complaint, which was, to me, about a life-threatening experience, steering the conversation away, time and again, from what I thought was the simplest, most natural direction, I'm sorry.
Now, I trusted this person. Her avoidance of those words, her downright circumlocutions confused me. My brain has long practice in making sense of the nonsensical behavior of people I trust. So I decided there must be a rule, a therapy rule, that says a therapist shouldn't apologize, because it diverts attention from the real issue, which is about the client's mother, and not about the therapist at all. Or something like that.