Chapter 53 Chapter Thirteen Can I Marry My Lovely Patient

"Last night, I had a dream, and you appeared in the dream." "And then?" I asked. "In the dream, I put my head on your knee, and you patted my head gently with your hand, and I felt happy and peaceful." Marilyn simply described the dream.After listening to it, I breathed a sigh of relief, because the content of this dream is still very restrained.If she had told me about a very egregious dream, I would have looked at the entire doctor-patient relationship very differently. "What do you say this dream means?" The inquiry into meaning is always a major element of psychotherapy.

"Isn't the meaning of this dream very clear? You are asking the question knowingly." Marilyn pushed the question back to me. "In the dream, you snuggled up on my knee, the knee means support, turning and aggressiveness, and my hand on your head means awakening and enlightenment. The symbolic meaning of this relationship between you and me in the dream is, You hope to get strong support and inspiration from men, and transform your past sadistic-masochistic relationship into a healthy, mutual trust and support relationship.” I cleverly pointed her dream to , from a single dependence on me to a broad understanding of interpersonal relationships.She can ignore my explanation, but I have conveyed my meaning through this explanation.

Obviously, after listening to my explanation, her nervousness eased.She said softly: "I didn't think of the meaning of your explanation. My original thought was very straightforward." Marilyn's answer showed that she did not accept my explanation. "Any dream is a symbol. We should learn to find the deep meaning expressed in the dream from the dream, instead of simply acting according to the direct representation of the dream." I hope she can shift her attention to the exploration of meaning . "Actually, I don't care about your explanation. What I think in my heart is that when I have enough courage, I will hug you." Marilyn still couldn't control her mouth and confessed what she wanted to say Undoubtedly said it.

"This is not allowed. What we have to do is to return to the exploration of its psychological significance." I clearly answered her fiery direct statement.At this point, many newcomers to psychotherapy practice are often out of control.In fact, the easiest way is to draw a clear line.After I clearly expressed my attitude and point of view, Marilyn's attitude towards me was naturally corrected to concentrate on discussing psychological issues. Can I marry my lovely patient? Accepting that a psychiatrist is just like everyone else, we face together the question: Is it possible for a psychiatrist to fall in love with and eventually marry his or her patient?The American Psychological Association's code of ethics for psychiatrists clearly stipulates that psychiatrists are not allowed to fall in love with patients during the treatment phase, but this prohibition is automatically lifted two years after the termination of psychotherapy.What needs to be explained is that this is just a regulation rather than a law, and the implementation of the regulation can be loosened or tightened.

Although the law prohibits psychologists from falling in love with patients, most of what we see in movies violates the law.In the classic movie "Doctor Edward", the psychiatrist played by Ingrid Bergman and the handsome psychopath played by Gregory Peck are still very much in love.In the movie "Prince of the Tides", a psychiatrist starring Barbra Streisand moved her tough patient to tears like a child in the consulting room. "Never fall in love with your patient. If you fall in love, you must love it all the way without hesitation." It is said that this is an unwritten rule circulated among American psychologists.But according to my observation, in the United States, there are actually quite a few psychologists and patients who fall in love and eventually get married.

Linda, an American friend of mine, told me that her first husband was a psychiatrist.After the sudden passing of her beloved boyfriend, Joan, she fell into a severe depression.So she turned to a psychiatrist for help.The psychiatrist who became her husband soon fell in love with Linda, and when he proposed to her, Linda was still in a state of bewilderment.She told him frankly that she didn't love him, the psychiatrist was clearly overconfident in her own caring and therapeutic skills, they were married and had two children.But the confident therapist eventually admitted he was wrong.So, they chose to divorce.