Posted by Pfinstegg on July 26, 2004, at 19:59:54
In reply to Re: Laying down vs. sitting, posted by lucy stone on July 26, 2004, at 8:33:49
When I began analysis, I thought, too, that I was supposed to lie down all the time- after the initial two month period of sitting face to face and getting to know each other. Generally, now, I do lie down, as I find it makes it easier to speak really freely, without censoring. Sometimes completely unexpected things just bubble up out of me, and I can scarcely believe I've said them! Times like that invariably move us along a lot in the analysis. Also, he is not exactly in back, but rather alongside. I often feel extremely close to him during these sessions, even though I can't see him unless I look to the side, or lie on my side, which is also completely acceptable. There have been times when I didn't want to lie down, and it's always my choice. I not only sometimes sit up on the end of the couch, or sit in the leather chair opposite him, but have even sat on the floor at times. He's very accepting of all this, and says that over the course of his career, patients have probably sat in (on) every
inch of his office! His focus is always on patients bringing as much of themselves as possible into their sessions, and he seems to know that flexibility in where people *are* helps a lot with that goal.
poster:Pfinstegg
thread:370435
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040723/msgs/370912.html