Posted by Racer on June 12, 2004, at 14:00:55
In reply to Re: Change of therapy location, posted by pegasus on June 10, 2004, at 11:10:17
Only different rooms in the same facility, but the room really makes a big difference to me. Both at the last nightmare agency and at the new 'still nervous about it all' facility, my therapists have changed rooms periodically. Both facilities have had rooms where I felt comfortable, and rooms where I just didn't.
At Nightmare Abbey, they had one room with a rolltop desk, a bookcase, and a comfy armchair for me. That room was comfortable for me, and my first therapist, once I said something about it, always tried to use it. The next therapists used other rooms that weren't comfortable in the first place, and then were such big parts of the nightmare themselves, that I wouldn't be able to go into those rooms now without screaming. In one of those rooms, the Client Chair was in a little alcove with a counter and sink along one long side, right behind and a little to the side of me. That one was really uncomfortable -- talk about feeling trapped in a cage! Especially since I'd have to run past the therapist whose chair was partially blocking the way out of the alcove.
At Hesitant Hotel, though, they have a smaller range of rooms, with more consistent furniture, although they have two 'play room' kids rooms. One of them has a sand tray in it. In some ways it's nice to be in the kids rooms, since I can focus on the toys when I can't make eye contact (which is most of the time now), but it's also uncomfortable, because it's all so distracting. The other rooms are much more stark, some have those really square shaped wood frames with cushions -- you know those sofa things? Others have chairs, mostly with arms. Since I pull my feet up and hang onto my knees when I'm in there, the bigger the chair, the better.
Different locations make a real difference in how I feel, at least. I'm sure there's some big, important reason for that, but I have no clue what it might be. (Although I suspect that a big part of it is trying to burrow into a den and hide. At least for me. If I could wrap a quilt around myself and only have my eyes and nose showing, I would happily do that.)
poster:Racer
thread:355309
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040603/msgs/356085.html