Posted by gardenergirl on June 10, 2005, at 23:39:19
In reply to Re: Would other people's therapists do better? » happyflower, posted by Dinah on June 10, 2005, at 19:41:48
Hi Dinah,
He may not know how to label what you had happen because it may not be part of his training, and other clients may never had reported anything similar. It's something that is more process related than content related, and I suspect your T is more content focused most of the time?It sounds to me like something called "signal anxiety". This is a psychodynamic (or maybe even analytic, I forget). But it's when a person is approaching something from the unconscious that is scary or difficult somehow, and the body or brain sends a "signal" like a red flag or something. This leads the person to somehow back away from the scary topic usually unconsciously. You might change the subject and not realize it, you might get confused or lost in your thoughts, you might dissociate or have some other physical sensations. The whole idea is that unconscious is saying "whoa, Nelly! We're not going THERE!". Most of the time the person does not even notice it.
I've run across this in myself before when I was free associating and just all of a sudden it was like a steel door rolled down and just shut off my thoughts. And other times I start to feel something anxious-like, often in my belly, and I can't figure out why I am feeling anxious about what I am talking about. I think sensitive folks tend to notice it happening more. It's good that you reported it. And knowing what the topic was when it happened is very helpful. I hope your T remembers that.
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:510706
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050606/msgs/510860.html