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In a 2021 podcast interview (Nixon. Therapist’s are Human Too, 2021), Maroda concludes the exchange by stating: “There is no place to hide and more importantly, there’s no reason to”. She is referring to the many ways therapists seek to conceal the “human flaws and limitations” (p. 83) which evolve from having “been assigned the enormous responsibility for care giving at an early age” (p. 1). She stands on the premise that “we adapted to our parents out of the primal fear of losing them, which never leaves us” (p. 179), creating a loyalty to both ourselves and to them.
In The Analyst’s Vulnerability, Karen Maroda elucidates the reasons therapists need not hide from ourselves and our patients. She challenges the reader to question every idea we have ever had about our motivations to become therapists, the impact of our needs and vulnerabilities on how we practice, and how our histories drive our theoretical orientation. Her approach engages the reader in a dialogue by asking and answering questions few of us would ever even think about.
Maroda declares: “it is not about whether you are vulnerable; it is about how and when you are, and what you can do to manage it constructively” (p. 69). She encourages analysts to welcome the idea of vulnerability as a vital component of human connection and as an important avenue for feeling more equipped for the work. Working under the assumption that there are both strengths as well as weaknesses that come from early giving, she asks analysts to anticipate both “pleasure and pain as we revisit emotional terrain that can be achingly familiar” (p. 1) in our work with patients. Her overall goal for the fourth book in her repertoire is to develop a model that encompasses both a deep appreciation of our own needs while also keeping the patient’s needs as the focal point. Her hope is to open a conversation about the contributions our early conflicts make to our personhood and our work, in an effort to give permission to disclo