Actually yes, yes and yes! I think I have made quite a fine art out of worrying how my own issues may impact on my clients. Like I sometimes worry that through fear of being oversensitized to abuse issues, I may actually end up being UNDERsensitized to abuse issues with some clients ..(if that makes any sense!)
In fact it has largely been the worrying about possibilities like these that has delayed my launching out into my own private practice (having been in the process of doing so "when i feel personally ready" for several yrs now). What I am increasingly finding though, is that in finally experiencing for myself a therapeutic relationship with a therapist who has lost neither her objectivity nor her compassion to her own issues, I at last have a "role model" of possibility for my own practice. ... with this my own convictions of what is achievable for myself are taking root deep within (ie not just "in my head). Speaking in general terms,... I believe that as a survivor therapist I am no more or less likely to let my issues impact on my clients than would a therapist who is not a survivor, BUT that I am much more likely to over-identify with a survivor client whereas another therapist who has not experienced abuse may be much more likely to under-identify with the same client. ... and both extremes can of course be problematic. I find the same thing re my instincts usually being remarkably accurate but tend not to trust them as much as I probably should for fear that my instincts are too influenced by my own stuff. What you wrote makes so much sense to me. Thanks muchly for opening it up!
Elysha
No rain, ~ no rainbows!
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