Table 8: The Therapist's Interventions
Rate Your Therapist
This is how my therapist intervenes:

Sound Answers

• He/she doesn't say anything most of the time; I do most of the talking.
• When he/she intervenes, it's almost always to explain the unconscious basis of my problem in light of my unconscious perception of something the therapist said or did.

Questionable-to-Unsound Answers: Reconsider Your Choice of Therapist

• He/she is sometimes silent for long periods of time, even though I have dreams that suggest the silence is inappropriate (dreams about people who don't understand, are insensitive, neglecting, etc.).
• He/she asks questions, repeats what I've said to clarify it, and confronts me sometimes on contradictions in what I've said.
• He/she asks questions, repeats what I've said to clarify it, and confronts me sometimes on contradictions in what I've said.
• He/she generally tells me what something I've said and asks me to say more about it.
• He/she occasionally picks up on something I've said and asks me to say more about it.
• He/she occasionally offers an empathic response, such as, "That must have been very painful for you," or "It sounds like you were pretty angry."
• He/she has occasional lapses in neutrality - sometimes gets quite angry with me/says something flirtatious/seems bored/falls asleep.

Dangerous Answers: Beware of This Therapist

• He/she is often silent for several sessions running, even though I've told him/her outright that I'm uncomfortable with it. In fact, I wind up spending a lot of those sessions talking about people who don't care about me or are afraid of a real relationship.
• He/she is constantly directing me to talk about particular issues, such as, "You haven't said anything about your mother for a while; how's that relationship going?" or "I'm interested in the fact that you were smiling when you mentioned being hurt. Why do you think you did that?"
• He/she is always telling me what I should be doing with my life, such as, "What are you afraid of? If I were you, I'd go for it."
• When I said that I resented his/her accepting phone calls during my sessions/keeping me waiting/taking notes, he/she said that other patients don't see things that way, and that I have a problem.
• He/she seems positively hostile to me -- alternately sarcastic and indifferent.
• He/she is seductive with me and seems hurt when I don't respond.

Table 9: Terminating the Therapy
Rate Your Therapist
This is how my therapist handled/is handling termination issues:

Sound Answers

• I introduced directly the possibility of ending therapy.
• My therapist interpreted my unconscious allusions to termination
• I felt a sense of new insight and deep understanding, and my symptoms had largely been resolved, so it seemed like the right time to terminate.
• I set a specific date for termination, and it remained unchanged.
• All the ground rules were maintained to the very last session - frequency, time, etc. Once therapy was over, I had no more contact with my therapist.
• The therapist maintained his/her analytic attitude to the very end.