Introduction

[Whateverist]

I suppose working with clients in psychotherapy, being treated with inflated respect is probably an occupational hazard. What do you call it, transference? What a shock it must be to come here where no one starts off with credentials they can't back up on the spot. I suspect you are enjoying this just a little, sswhatever. Probably feels grounding in a way.

[sswhateverlove]

Sorry to sound nitpicky, but it's phrases such as "some of your members here" that are preventing you from being accepted into the community. You may wish to work on that.

Thanks, but the fact that I'm not being ignored (and instead am actually getting an overwhelming number of responses to every post) implies that nothing I have done has prevented me from being accepted into the community. Thanks for the advice though...

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Perhaps some of your members here could benefit from that lesson.

So you are pretty firm in your stance that it is everyone here who needs to learn how to interact on the internet, and not you, huh?

How does "some of your members could benefit from" get interpreted as "everyone here needs to"?

I acknowledged my ignorance where it was due and apologized.

What more do you want from me?

[Cyberman]

Hmm. You sounded very much like a long-since departed member who crowed about his threads being the most popular, when half of them were taken up with him being a prat and the other half with everyone else telling him he's being a prat.

[sswhateverlove]

Perhaps some of your members here could benefit from that lesson.

Perhaps you could benefit from your own advice. You certainly come off a bit too aggressive. You're constantly defensive. This is not a debate forum. If you want to constantly be on the defense, join a debate forum.

Woooahh... wow, now I have to totally admit my ignorance. My entire interaction here was based around the assumption that this was a debate forum... It was the exact reason I came here. If you're telling me it's an atheist support group, I will respectfully bow out and go elsewhere.

And I'm actually quite proud of my assertiveness with regard to my experience here. Defensiveness is to be expected when defensiveness is required.

[JesusHChrist]

Love, this isn't going well for you.

[sswhateverlove]

I suppose working with clients in psychotherapy, being treated with inflated respect is probably an occupational hazard. What do you call it, transference? What a shock it must be to come here where no one starts off with credentials they can't back up on the spot. I suspect you are enjoying this just a little, sswhatever. Probably feels grounding in a way.

No, I mean, as a psychotherapist who teaches people how to have healthy relationships (which many people don't have much experience with btw), I start by teaching them to set boundaries, to expect others to always treat them with respect and not abuse them, and to assert themselves if they feel disrespected or abused. I don't encourage respect exclusive to any status, profession, or familiarity, but generalized to everyone for the sake of having healthy relationships.

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Love, this isn't going well for you.

Well, that's your opinion I suppose.

I've had to assert myself, yes, some people obviously don't care for me, fine. Otherwise, I'm having some interesting discussions via my threads and I'm teaching people about respect from a therapeutic perspective.

You're assumption of how well this is going for me is noted, but you're obviously not me, so you are not an expert.

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Hmm. You sounded very much like a long-since departed member who crowed about his threads being the most popular, when half of them were taken up with him being a prat and the other half with everyone else telling him he's being a prat.

Well, your opinion is noted, but the intellectual discussions via my threads are going just fine now.

Here (on my Intro page btw- hello mods?) is where people continue telling me I'm being "prat" and I feel I have to keep defending myself.

Sooo.... yeah...

[Keri]

Perhaps some of your members here could benefit from that lesson.

Perhaps you could benefit from your own advice. You certainly come off a bit too aggressive. You're constantly defensive. This is not a debate forum. If you want to constantly be on the defense, join a debate forum.

Woooahh... wow, now I have to totally admit my ignorance. My entire interaction here was based around the assumption that this was a debate forum... It was the exact reason I came here. If you're telling me it's an atheist support group, I will respectfully bow out and go elsewhere.

And I'm actually quite proud of my assertiveness with regard to my experience here. Defensiveness is to be expected when defensiveness is required.

I'm horrible with sarcasm on the internet so I can't tell if that's you being sarcastic or not. But I believe someone else has already replied to you (in this thread maybe?) that this is not a debate forum. It's also not a support group per say. It's considered an online community as you've already been informed of multiple times.

You can call it assertiveness all you want but it's pure (unnecessary) defensiveness mixed with a shit load of attitude.

If you have two eyes that have the ability to see you can scroll down the front page of AF and see that it's not a debate forum based on the numerous sub-forums. Example, the Arts sub-forum. With threads about members posting their art or favourite music. How is that any indication of a debate forum?

[Losty]

There's debate here but this isn't a debate forum. This forum is a community.

[Keri]

Hmm. You sounded very much like a long-since departed member who crowed about his threads being the most popular, when half of them were taken up with him being a prat and the other half with everyone else telling him he's being a prat.

Well, your opinion is noted, but the intellectual discussions via my threads are going just fine now.

Here (on my Intro page btw- hello mods?) is where people continue telling me I'm being "prat" and I feel I have to keep defending myself.

Sooo.... yeah...

No one called you a prat. He simply said that you remind him of someone and explained the situation.

Re-read that again and show me where he said sswhatever is a prat?

[ManMachine]

Again I'll just point out that inflammatory comments engender inflamed responses, which are a matter of record and thus not subjective. Demanding (more correctly expecting) automatic respect is also a matter of record, being mentioned in this very thread by yourself as something to which you are used.

Yes, and I teach my clients everyday that they should expect others to be respectful toward them in their interactions. Further, if they feel mistreated, disrespected, or otherwise abused, I teach them skills required to be assertive with regard to how they expect to be treated. Being passive, passive-aggressive, or aggressive usually causes more harm then good.

Perhaps some of your members here could benefit from that lesson.

I have an honest question for you, no agenda.

Do you think the world would be a better place if we were all of the same or similar temperament?

MM