Tag: intimacy

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Pranav’s Case – Detachment

Do you find similarities between yourself and Pranav?

Pranav is a 30 year old Indian man who has a medium paying job at an English speaking firm. His job currently requires him to learn Arabic to enhance his communication skills. He doesn’t think it would be possible as its extremely hard in every manner. He attended a few Arabic classes before coming for therapy. In Muscat he feels extremely lonely and yearns for physical and emotional intimacy. He feels if he had someone to support him, he would be able to do better in life. Nonetheless, he is too afraid of rejection. He changes the topic every time someone tries to make him meet someone new. He also says that he would hurt his ex girlfriend more than everything. He maintains a platonic friendship with her. She finds it hard to completely let go of the possibility of them resuming their relationship in the future as he appears to be consistent and stable, and represents safety, familiarity and “no risk”. She is currently in Muscat.

He has been considering moving back to India. He is certain he would be able to find a less demanding job there. He hopes that the cultural and language similarities could also make it much easier to meet someone new. However, he worries about starting over and making a new life for himself there.  Another thought that distresses him is that it would be quite disappointing and lonely if he moved but didn’t meet anyone.

Pranav has been terrified by the reality of passing time, especially during the time of corona virus pandemic. This has brought up feelings of dying without achieving anything meaningful in life. He feels emotionally paralysed and caught between what he calls “death anxiety” and “life anxiety”.

Pranav is currently undergoing existential therapy.  He has been to therapy before but ends up withdrawing when he feels disappointed and that the therapy is not living up to his expectations. He decided to start the 8 weeks therapeutic journey to try and resolve his issues of detachment. If you found similarities between yourself and Pranav, our team would be able to help you too.

Personal details have been changed to preserve confidentiality.

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Sarah’s Case – Existential

Sarah’s Case – Existential

Do you find similarities between yourself and Sarah?

Sarah is a 49 year old American woman who lived in the Czech Republic for 14 years. She originally moved to Muscat because of her relationship with an Indian man, but they divorced 2 years ago. They had no children and the relationship was very unsatisfactory in terms of meeting Sarah’s needs for intimacy, affection and emotional connection. Her ex husband was an overly rational, emotionally reserved person and She (previously diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder) is very emotionally labile and intense. Despite the divorce, Sarah remained in Muscat. She has a few close friends and no family here. Both her parents died within 2 months of each other last year. She has 3 siblings who still live in the US. She doesn’t feel close to any of them. They are all significantly older than her and extremely “rational”. She often feels patronised by them.

She is extremely intelligent and has a well-paid job which she does very well. However, it brings her no joy and she has no strong interest. Her passion and talent is theatre. She used to take actin and improvisation classes but lost motivation for these a long time ago. Her dream is to travel around the world using theatre and educate people about social injustices and how they can be addressed. She feels prevented from trying to follow her dreams. She says, “It is unfortunate but I am too old now to make a change.” She constantly has feelings of helplessness because she would have to sacrifice financial security.

Sarah is under the care of a therapist who uses acceptance and commitment therapy. She writes and directs small plays to deal with her existential issues. If you found similarities between yourself and Sarah, our team would be able to help you.

Personal details have been changed to preserve confidentiality.