Posted by Dinah on September 26, 2004, at 17:59:12
In reply to Yawning Therapist, posted by AUGUSTINA on September 26, 2004, at 13:03:37
Mine used to yawn a lot. And his eyes would droop. Sometimes I would keep up a soothing murmer until he actually nodded off and jerked awake. I finally addressed the issue, after researching it a lot on my own. I realized that part of the problem was that I was really out of touch with my feelings and came across rather flat. Once I was able to offer up what I thought was my side of the problem, I brought it up with him. At first I was pretty tentative. I notice you seem to be sleepy an awful lot when you're in session with me. Is this a problem for you in general or is it me in particular. Is there any way we can work on helping keep you awake. Is my flatness of affect a problem.
We finally figured out a few things that helped. A good part of the problem was that we met shortly after lunch, and he had sugar high. We switched seats so that I was on the sofa and he was on the chair. I started pointing out to him when he looked sleepy so he could get up and walk around if he needed to. He started being honest if I asked about it.
Now, we've been together long enough that I would probably just ask if he needed to end our session early to take a nap or ask what debauchery he'd been up to the night before. :)
Did I go to extraordinary lengths to maintain a good relationship with a therapist, when theoretically it was his job to do that, not mine? Yes. Would the problem have been solved if I hadn't? Probably not. Am I sorry I went above and beyond the call of a therapy client? Well to all of those of you who would say I should have dumped his sorry *ss, I would say that I don't regret it at all.
He was a good therapist with a few flaws. I worked on the flaws. I think I did a pretty good job with him, and will always think of him as my fixer upper therapist.
Now I just need to teach him to do the stuff Daisy and Aphrodite's therapists do.
poster:Dinah
thread:395302
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040925/msgs/395411.html