My idea of ​​psychotherapy before I touched it through personal experience was certainly not the same as it is now. At that time, I imagined psychotherapy to be similar to medical assistance. Here is a patient on the couch, here is a serious expert - a psychotherapist. He is emotionless and distant. He understands more about the client than the client himself understands about himself; in general, the therapist in this couple is very cool. Like Sigmund Freud. The client in this relationship (after all, a relationship) is weak, confused, and unsure. Not cool at all. He loves the therapist, has respect for him and is not shy in expressing his feelings. The therapist also feels warm feelings towards the client, but not as a friend or brother, rather as a father to his son, or like a teacher to his student. But he doesn't show it, it could harm the work. It's work after all. And outside the office it’s a completely different life. This is how I imagined psychotherapy until I did it. During my studies, I was faced with the unpleasant need to be in touch with my feelings, to show tolerance for the feelings of others - my colleagues, students of the Gestalt therapy training program. Then I realized that sincerity is necessary in work. In expressing your feelings. Now I understand that sincerity is required not in manifestation, but in awareness. The therapist does not have to show his feelings. And there is no need to hide them either. But it is very important to notice them. So as not to stop contact by confluence. I currently work with about 15 people in my practice. With someone the relationship is long-term - a year, a year and a half, with someone - not so much. They are all very different people, and my relationship with them all is very different. Sometimes I fantasize about them getting together. I imagine with interest how their communication would have developed, how they would discuss me, speak about me and my work. In this expectation of their positive attitude towards me there is something like emotional dependence. When I understand this, I want to get rid of it. Although looking at this phenomenon impartially, you might think: what’s wrong? Everyone loves kindness and love. So everything depends on it. On the issue of addiction. The therapist depends on the client. Especially a new therapist. An experienced specialist with an established practice and a waiting list of people who want to be his clients also depends. Any client can enrage, shame, anger, that is, affect the therapist emotionally. This dependence is inevitable and even necessary for working in the Gestalt approach. Based on the feelings that arise during the work, I can navigate the mental processes that drive the client. Here it is important not to stop in clarifying the client’s feelings, not to help him and not to think for him. The research must remain phenomenological, that is, non-judgmental, impartial and descriptive. If we understand the client’s feelings for him, then we risk interrupting the contact with projection. How is a therapeutic relationship different from any other? What are relationships like? I would divide them into two large groups: functional relationships (utilitarian purposes) and informal relationships (relationships for the sake of relationships). In general, any human interaction can be classified into one of these two groups. When entering into a functional relationship with someone, we do not expect special depth, emotional involvement and interdependence. But we understand why we are here and what will happen next. So, when coming to work, an office employee communicates with colleagues and contractors as part of his and their official duties, and as a result of these relationships he receives a salary. His relations with the workforce are regulated by the employment contract and the labor code. If any informal relationships arise there, they are more likely to hinder than help the success of the cause for which this team has gathered. In informal relationships, we cannot be sure in advance what they will lead to, and whether we will remain profitable as a result (as in the example.