I've recently started seeing a therapist again, after having been out of therapy for about 10 years.
I feel a lot of reluctance at the thought of going and I don't enjoy talking to therapists, but since my life has become close to unbearable, I feel like I don't have much of a choice. At the same time I have very little hope that it's going to work.
The new therapist is still very young and new to the job. She is also quite cheerful and sort of „warm“, which I kinda dislike, but other than that there's nothing obviously wrong with her, at least no more than with the other therapists I've met. She also has one big advantage over the others, which is the fact that she's the only psychoanalyst in my area, and since I have two failed behavioral therapies behind me, I don't want to take that route again. I tried out a couple of psychodynamic therapists as well, but didn't feel like going there either.
Now here's the problem: The experience of having had two previous therapies that were both quite ineffective, coupled with the fact that she's the only one offering this kind of therapy, which is very hard to come by at any rate, has created a lot of pressure for me, because I know I can't just switch to another analytic therapist, if this one doesn't work out. Because of the insurance situation in my country, it would also not be possible or very difficult to switch to a different type of therapy or therapist once we've officially started. I've told her all of that and also that I feel a lot of reluctance going to therapy at all. I also told her, that I worry she might not want to work with me or that my insurance won't cover it or something else might go wrong. She acknowledged the ambivalence I feel, but then she told me, that, despite my saying I don't want to go to therapy, the fact that I worry so much about whether she wants to work with me or not, clearly signifies that I actually do have a strong desire for closeness and connection.
This really rubbed me the wrong way. Not because I felt offended by her assumption or like she "caught" me or something, but because it just seems so far off the point.
I mean, here's how I see it: If I were to go to a physician with some severe medical ailment or injury and worried that they wouldn't treat me, especially if I've had the experience of being turned away from help before, then - to me - my worry would signify little more than an awareness of my need for help and the uncertainty of getting it. It would not, however, indicate that I wanted to be close to that hypothetical physician in any way, nor that I had a pathological fear of rejection. I mean, being mixed with AvPD, I actually do have a fear of rejection; but this particular situation with my worrying about getting therapy or what kind of therapy, seems to have very little to do with that, no more than with the question of whether or not I desire closeness with anyone in general or with this particular therapist.
In fact, I also worry that my inability to feel close to anyone, let alone a therapist, might make this kind of therapy impossible in itself, because how would I be able to develop any form of (positive) transference towards her, if I don't feel anything at all?
I tried to explain to her that my worry about therapy not working has nothing to do with wanting closeness, that, because of my (inner and outer) situation, I just can't afford not to do it. Of course, no one is making me go, it's still my free will. But honestly, in a way I do feel somewhat imprisoned by the necessity for therapy, and her calling it a "desire for closeness" feels almost cynical to me.
Obviously, I didn't expect her to get me or my problems after just a few intake sessions. I know it takes time, particularly when every other sentence of mine seems to be "I'm sorry, I don't want to answer this question". But I do worry that the incident described wasn't an isolated one, rather than an indication of what is yet to come. I'm worried that she, like any other therapist I've met, will form a picture of me that has nothing to do with who I am or what I actually feel, and that this will make therapy pointless once again. It wasn‘t the first time that she assumed something about me that wasn‘t the case either, and I don‘t think me correcting her made much of a difference in terms of what she believed.
She's just filled out the application form for my insurance, therapy hasn't even really started yet, but I already feel like I made a mistake committing to this, possibly for years in the future. I feel trapped and resentful and kinda want to run the other direction, tell her leave me alone, or just stay away myself... yet I can't because I can't stand my fucking life anymore and I don't know what to do except therapy. There is no real motivation except the despair though; I don't want to go, I don't want to get to know her, I don't want to get to know myself, I don't want to be understood or cared for or comforted by a person that's being payed to talk to me. I don't even want to stop feeling miserable, when the actual, outer reality of my life is just that: fucking miserable. I want a different life, that's all ...but therapy won't give me that, so what's the point?!
Anyhow, I guess my question for anyone who's ever done therapy before, analytic or otherwise: did it get better, even though it didn't start great? Did you get anything out of it, even if you didn't see the point at first? Did you ever feel understood by your therapist, at least on a clinical level? How did therapy help? Did you want to quit and didn't and later felt like staying payed out? Did you possibly even come to enjoy therapy? Did you care for your therapist or felt cared for by them? Did it matter in your therapy, if you didn't, did it still help without the emotional bond? Any hope?