Posted by twinleaf on February 12, 2008, at 0:20:02
I didn't want to totally hijack the Camp Comfort thread, but there was another topic there which I wanted to explore. It seems like we've had all sorts of therapist responses when we hit a topic that is hard to talk about. Some therapists are apparently fine with just letting it go, and helping us change the subject, others feel we are not ready to discuss something as difficult as our feelings about them- and then there's my analyst. Almost every session, I begin to struggle over REALLY not wanting to say something. I usually own up to that much. Then he says, "if you are having trouble talking about something, it can be helpful to talk about WHY it is difficult."
So I launch into an explanation. In the process of explaining why I CAN'T talk about something, I give so many details that before I know it, I've TOLD him! And THEN I get to tell him how ashamed and mortified I feel about having told.
Working with this analyst is so hard and exhausting that I sometimes stagger a little when I get up to leave. One time, I suddenly got dizzy as I was standing up, and found myself briefly on all fours, with him standing over me, looking as though nothing unusual had occurred.
He is a wonderful therapist, so it is all more than worth it. I don't know how or why I am feeling so much better. I almost feel as though my unconscious brain is interacting with him in a way that is very, very helpful, while my conscious brain just does the talking, and then looks on, without really knowing what is happening.
poster:twinleaf
thread:812182
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20080210/msgs/812182.html