My therapist is a man and he seems to understand why that is sometimes an issue for me. A few weeks back, when I completely fell apart and had somewhat of a flasback during our session, he kept calmly reminding me where I was, and telling me that I was safe, he would never hurt me, etc. When I expressed some doubts about him and about being able to really trust him because he was male, he reacted in just the right way. He simply acknowledged what I was saying, but didn't try to defend himself, argue, tell me we needed to work through my issues with men or anything. He didn't remind me of how crucial it is for me to trust my therapist, and he didn't repeat his statement about not hurting me. He didn't turn any if this into being about him. He just sat with me calmly and, without trying to convince me of anything, simply WAS safe. That was huge in building my trust. That and the time he called my old boyfriend a jerk and laughed with me when I lamely tried to defend the jerk...and all the other times he has done and said things that make me realize that, for a man, he really does "get it".
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