{"id":484,"date":"2008-11-25T03:19:06","date_gmt":"2008-11-25T03:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/switchingtime.wordpress.com\/?p=484"},"modified":"2008-11-25T03:19:06","modified_gmt":"2008-11-25T03:19:06","slug":"karen-answers-elizabeth-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/?p=484","title":{"rendered":"Karen answers Elizabeth A"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Comment by Elizabeth A. on November 23, 2008 3:17 am<\/span> <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Karen,<\/span><\/p>\n

I was thrilled at the end when you and the doctor hug. All through the book I was frustrated with his not caring to hug you. My therapist hugs me, what\u2019s the big deal? I never thought this was a big deal until reading Switching Time. Now I feel uncomfortable and had to address it in therapy wasting a whole two sessions talking about it. Did your doctor believe himself higher than God or was he just a cold fish?<\/span><\/p>\n

Elizabeth A.
\nSouth Bend, IN<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Elizabeth,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For someone like me and you, we\u00a0ususally can’t\u00a0understand and see what the big deal is? Therapists are trained to believe this act could harm the therapeutic relationship. \u00a0<\/span>Maybe in some cases it could. I’m not sure. \u00a0<\/span>For me, this was a nagging frustration that I believed hurt more than helped at the time. \u00a0<\/span>I never felt worthy enough.\u00a0 <\/span>Not being hugged, a simple touch, left me feeling sad. \u00a0<\/span>Now, years after the therapeutic relationship ended, I can see why hugging could’ve been a bad idea, especially since I had within me many alters who may\u00a0have taken a simple hug in the wrong way. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Being hugged\u00a0during the midst of therapy could’ve been taken as an attack, put an awkward strain on the therapy, caused feelings of abuse, or maybe even taken as a seduction attempt.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back, I am glad Dr. Baer didn’t hug me during therapy. \u00a0<\/span>Why? \u00a0<\/span>Because if he did hug me, I may have stopped therapy\u00a0altogether and not healed. \u00a0<\/span>I’ll never know for sure.\u00a0 <\/span>However, what I do know is that he didn\u2019t hug me and I stayed in therapy through to the end. \u00a0<\/span>Maybe those things are connected.\u00a0 <\/span>Dr. Baer felt he knew\u00a0what was best for me,\u00a0before\u00a0I understood his reason for not hugging me,\u00a0and although I may have felt hurt, he did\u00a0what he thought was right.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s important that you continue to discuss your concerns and thoughts with your therapist. \u00a0<\/span>I am not a therapist and can’t give advice, but from what you have shared, it appears to have become an issue that needs to be addressed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Baer never acted like he was higher than God. \u00a0<\/span>Dr. Baer treated me with the\u00a0utmost respect, and through him I have learned appropriate and ethical boundaries\u00a0that will continue to help me as I continue my journey through life. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I wish you\u00a0the best\u00a0as you continue your healing,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Karen<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comment by Elizabeth A. on November 23, 2008 3:17 am Dear Karen, I was thrilled at the end when you and the doctor hug. All through the book I was frustrated with his not caring to hug you. My therapist hugs me, what\u2019s the big deal? I never thought this was a big deal until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-karens-answers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.switchingtime.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}