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Growing Desires
The unpleasant side effect of receiving tender loving care
Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and concern, the more needs and desires it finds. (St. Teresa of Avila)
Introduction
As a recipient of counselling, I can tell you very plainly that it is very easy to become ‘spoiled’ by your counsellor.
You are in an artificial relationship with a person who is able to devote 100% of her attention on you for an hour. You are free to talk about anything you like and the counsellor is every ready to provide emotional support and reassurance.
For a person who is lonely and deprived of care, this encounter can be very addictive and can trigger all kinds of strange attachments.
In my case, after a few sessions of ‘tender loving care’, I found myself becoming increasingly ‘precious’. I felt that ‘my feelings are important’; ‘I am important’.
As these feelings of ‘preciousness’ grew, I became increasing annoyed by the little things that were happening in my life.
I lost the ability to ignore my distorted paranoid thoughts. In short, I needed material to complain about during my counselling sessions and I was looking out for them constantly in my day to day interactions with others.
