During a therapy session, the term "split object" or something containing that gist was tossed out. What is the full term? What does it mean? What aspect of personality does it relate to, or how would this relate to sexuality, if applicable? (I don't remember what we were talking about during that particular session). Thanks.
Thanks. It could be. There is a link over to another article talking about "object relations" so I'm able to see the words split and object in the same discussion. I don't know how far up I would be on the scale for those 2 PDs mentioned (borderline and narcissistic), but it does talk about how one sees both the positive and negative as sharply divided things to justify preserving one's self-esteem. That was interesting to me.
I'm thinking you should discuss this with your therapist because without context, it's difficult to understand what your therapist would be discussing. Object relations theory is a pretty complicated concept that a therapist typically wouldn't be discussing with a client, and even in object relations theory, one would typically not be talking about a "split object" but just about splitting.
He's not my therapist anymore. He was the person I did the "Bad therapy ... bad therapist" thread about. I am currently not in therapy. I, too, found this odd, that he would toss out "Oh, (name of syndrome or condition)" as if an answer on a Jeopardy show. He was primarily in education, so this was a side gig. I think that his academic bent caused him to plug and chug what he heard into these concepts. As for his being "bad," or not suitable for me, a lot of times a person can go through an experience and not have it register until later, almost as if in survival mode. I think that's what happened - I should have either stopped or changed therapists. I think what clicked is that I liked his intellectual side in looking at things, which had its thorns along with the roses. However, I have discussed the sessions recently with a friend who has done a lot of work related to childhood abuse and she doesn't like what she hears in my descriptions of his remarks during therapy sessions. This therapeutic rapport occurred about 5 years ago, and it took me a year to open up to him about intimacy issues, though he was easier to talk to about other stressors, and then I clammed right back up on the intimacy issues. The first time I started therapy prior to that, after a metered number of free sessions in grad school and had begun working, I got into intimacy issues by about the 5th visit and everything was handled with respect. Like they say "you don't know what you've got til it's gone," I guess.
