Dear Quirine:

There is not much use in understanding something if it doesn’t promote the beginning of healing. If you saw an analyst for three years for the purpose of intellectual understanding, that could be an interesting intellectual process. The job of a psychotherapist is to guide you into a healing process, an emotional healing that involves the intellect.

You wrote that you were uncomfortable being close to your father, unlike your mother. Can you describe your childhood relationship with your mother? And then, with your father?

anita