Posted by Dinah on April 25, 2008, at 8:33:59
In reply to Re: Getting into and out of his office.... » Annierose, posted by twinleaf on April 24, 2008, at 23:00:57
Over time my therapist and I have come to an awareness of what works for us. He knows I hate to make small talk, or really to talk at all before we're in the office. If we're waiting for the elevator together, I give serious thought to skipping this one and waiting for the next. And he knows that too. So he calls me in then walks ahead of me down the hall to his office. It's a way from the waiting room, so sometimes he's mostly down the hall before I even enter the hall, which makes me smile. Sometimes he grabs some coffee and I wait quietly for him to continue. Once we're in, I make sure the pillows are as I like them then sit down and wait for him to stop fiddling with the files. Then he sits down. Then one of us will smile and say "Hi". That marks the beginning of the session.
It feels perfectly comfortable at this point, although it took a while to get to the rhythm.
Endings are nice. He opens the door for me, and if he forgets to say "You can call me if you need to", I pause and smile at him expectantly until he laughs and does it. Ritual and constancy are important to me, and we've developed a lot of rituals involved with ending the session. He's got an extra door down the hall to leave by, which is nice. I usually don't even glance towards the waiting room to see who is waiting for him.
poster:Dinah
thread:825299
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20080423/msgs/825357.html