Posted by LG04 on March 6, 2005, at 22:18:46
In reply to Also physical proximity, posted by thewrite1 on March 6, 2005, at 12:15:17
My therapist and I usually sat across from each other with a few feet in between us. it felt comfortable to me. at times i would ask her to move her chair closer to me and hold my hand. and then when i didn't need her hand anymore, i let go and she would ask if she should move her chair back or stay. usually i wanted her to move her chair back.
eventually i got brave enough to ask her once if i could come sit in her chair with her. she said okay and i sat with her with my arms around her and her arms around me. it felt soooooooooooooooooooo good. and we'd talk a little bit sitting like that. and then when it was too much closeness for me, i'd just get up and go back to my chair. i started doing that with her (i called it cuddling) probably once every 3 or 4 sessions. usually it would last between 10-20 minutes before i felt like i needed space again. once she asked me to get up b/c she said she was having trouble thinking and needed more space to think it thru (what we were talking about). i didn't get at all insulted which amazed me. i understood that sitting like that isn't conducive to intellectual thought. it's good for mushy, emotional stuff though.
i think it would perfectly acceptable to tell your therapist, "it would be okay if you went back to your chair now" or something like that. they understand these things.
LG04
poster:LG04
thread:467351
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050305/msgs/467596.html