This Is For You

Jeff Levy, LCSW
(originally posted on Branching Out: The Live Oak Blog, December 2014)

Black Friday and Cyber Monday usher in the season of gift giving for many of us.  A number of my clients have started sessions by telling me they are already done buying gifts this year.  Others have shared how stressful it is to think about buying gifts for family members and friends.  Some begin to talk about past holidays, past gifts, and loved ones who are no longer with us.  And then, there are those people who walk into my office with a wrapped gift.  “This is for you!” they say as they hand me a package.
 
Gift giving and receiving aren’t reserved only for the holiday season.  But the holidays are a time when gifts—either giving or receiving—have greater likelihood of manifesting in all our relationships, and our relationships in psychotherapy are no different.  Yet, giving and receiving gifts in our therapeutic relationships has engendered much discussion and analysis.

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