Posted by twinleaf on April 24, 2008, at 22:16:35
I have been going to my present analyst for about a year. For some reason, I have been finding it kind of awkward to get up from the waiting room chair, walk by him through the door, which he is holding, and go in and sit down, while he comes in after me and then sits down himself. I don't even know whether I should say "hi" or not! He just looks at me intently but doesn't say anything. I can't say I've made too much progress in getting more comfortable, yet, but he did say some interesting things about it when I first expressed my uneasiness and uncertainty.
"A mentor I had during my training told me that one welcomes a patient (analysts use "patient" rather than "client") into one's office as an honored guest. However you do it, that is the message you want to convey."
When I wondered about whether I should say "hi" or not: "you can do whatever feels best to you on a given day, and it doesn't always have to be the same."
And perhaps the most interesting: " one of the hardest things to do is to avoid developing a social aspect to the relationship. This is especially difficult to avoid with patients who are younger colleagues (I'm a doctor, but in a different field) or analytic candidates in training. A social aspect to the relationship may fulfill short-term social needs of the analyst, but it may also in the longer term prevent the colleague or candidate from saying, fully, what he needs to say."
You would think, with all this wise, kind direction, that I'd just be flying in there without a care, feet scarcely touching the ground, but that's not the case! Am I the only one? I kind of think I might be. I should say that once I'm there, I don't feel awkward at all, although I do feel all those other powerful and disturbing feelings that go along with therapy- in massive amounts...
poster:twinleaf
thread:825299
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20080423/msgs/825299.html