| Psychoanalytic psychotherapists have been trained in a particular way and their manner can at first seem confusing. They do not, for example, disclose personal things about themselves or make physical contact with you. This is not because they do not care about you, but because this is a unique analytic relationship, one unlike any other that you will experience.
The reason for the way they are with you becomes more apparent as you get used to the experience of psychotherapy. You might at first feel your psychotherapist is being unfriendly or closed off from you, especially at the start of treatment when you are at your most anxious. It is helpful to remember, however, that the therapist is helping you understand the way you relate to other people, and your hidden, buried or deep issues and emotions are more likely to surface if you allow yourself to undergo this unique process.
This is why psychotherapy is not the same as chatting to your closest friend about your problems, because they will probably want to protect you and tell you what you already want to hear and in this way you stay stuck with your familiar responses to yourself and the world, even if they are unhelpful.
This is why this therapeutic relationship is different from any other. The psychotherapists job is to help you understand these more problematic aspects of your personality which gradually unfold and reveal themselves through the analytic relationship.
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