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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by cubic_me on June 10, 2004, at 4:56:25
My therapist's whole practice has moved to a bigger premesis this week.
I found it quite nice going somewhere different, and I even liked the fact that the move wasn't quite finished (pictures not hung up and everyone not knowing where things were). In a way it made me feel like I was part of the move. I was my T's first client in the new place; am I special?!
Is the setting important to you- does it make you feel a certain way?
Have any of you had similar moves?
Posted by Dinah on June 10, 2004, at 7:46:13
In reply to Change of therapy location, posted by cubic_me on June 10, 2004, at 4:56:25
The clinic my therapist was at closed and he made a highly inconvenient move downtown. I hated it and I hate it. The room has poor sound insulation. Parking imposed a 6 or 7 dollar increase per session, and is not always available so that sometimes I have to walk for blocks and blocks in inclement weather (because parking problems and inclement weather seem to have a direct relationship).
Every time I get mad at him, I can't help thinking how much more convenient almost every other therapist in the entire area would be.
But then I wasn't the first client at the new location. :) I was, however, the last client at the old location. And he knew I loved that room so much that he didn't cancel my last session even though the weather was so bad that the entire place had closed down and workers were being encouraged to go home. He stayed until after my session before heading home. I'll always remember that kindness on his part.
Posted by bell_75 on June 10, 2004, at 8:12:21
In reply to Change of therapy location, posted by cubic_me on June 10, 2004, at 4:56:25
In the summer of this year (September-January in Aust.) some day's got really shockingly hot and my T's office had no air conditioning and of course its customary to have the door closed. So for a few random sessions we were in a different room because it was someone else's office in the building who had air conditioning and they weren't there on the day. We even joked about him stealing it and putting it in his office.
I really liked this change of scenery because the chairs and sidetable were in different positionings, the therapist who usually used this office worked with children as there were drawings on the walls and coloured pencils on the table (which I loved!). I felt so inqusitive about it all and his attitude seemed abit bah humbug or not really interested in the fun childlike things about the room. This T even had Christmas cards hanging on the wall that they had recieved. I liked it.
However the weather is cold now and we're back in his office every week. Theres one nice coloured poster of fish on the back of his door but i dont directly see it from where I'm sitting.There's room for improvement lets say!
Also, lately every week that I've been in his office his 2 chairs are at different angles to each other each time which makes me think maybe during the day he has too much time on his hands :P they're always shuffled around. I much prefer facing straight on than looking sideways at him.
So to get to my point, I really like a change of scenery and I think it does sound special that you're his first client after the new move.
Oh also with my T just reccently our sessions have moved to a different day of the week, at the timeslot for his last session of the day and each week I've come out to an empty car park and the akwardness of walking past his girlfriend who's waiting to drive him home (he doesnt drive). Does change of time and day fit into the same catagory as a move? Sometimes I like a bit of a change other times its just...akward.Ooh ohh is there new carpet? does everything smell new?? :D I think I'd like to try a new office. Maybe there's better vibe or energy to it. Good luck!
Posted by pegasus on June 10, 2004, at 11:10:17
In reply to Change of therapy location, posted by cubic_me on June 10, 2004, at 4:56:25
Yeah, I've been through a couple of office moves with my old therapist, one positive, and one negative. They weren't a huge deal to me, but I definitely noticed a different feel in each office. The first office was very cozy and secluded feeling, and the second was a lot more exposed and modern. The third was quieter again, with huge windows and lots of space. I liked the third one best. It just felt good. The second one really annoyed my therapist, which was interesting to me. But I didn't mind it. The first one felt dingy to me at first, but them comfortable later. I do feel like I did slightly different work at each location. Or in a slightly different way.
pegasus
Posted by Racer on June 12, 2004, at 14:00:55
In reply to Re: Change of therapy location, posted by pegasus on June 10, 2004, at 11:10:17
Only different rooms in the same facility, but the room really makes a big difference to me. Both at the last nightmare agency and at the new 'still nervous about it all' facility, my therapists have changed rooms periodically. Both facilities have had rooms where I felt comfortable, and rooms where I just didn't.
At Nightmare Abbey, they had one room with a rolltop desk, a bookcase, and a comfy armchair for me. That room was comfortable for me, and my first therapist, once I said something about it, always tried to use it. The next therapists used other rooms that weren't comfortable in the first place, and then were such big parts of the nightmare themselves, that I wouldn't be able to go into those rooms now without screaming. In one of those rooms, the Client Chair was in a little alcove with a counter and sink along one long side, right behind and a little to the side of me. That one was really uncomfortable -- talk about feeling trapped in a cage! Especially since I'd have to run past the therapist whose chair was partially blocking the way out of the alcove.
At Hesitant Hotel, though, they have a smaller range of rooms, with more consistent furniture, although they have two 'play room' kids rooms. One of them has a sand tray in it. In some ways it's nice to be in the kids rooms, since I can focus on the toys when I can't make eye contact (which is most of the time now), but it's also uncomfortable, because it's all so distracting. The other rooms are much more stark, some have those really square shaped wood frames with cushions -- you know those sofa things? Others have chairs, mostly with arms. Since I pull my feet up and hang onto my knees when I'm in there, the bigger the chair, the better.
Different locations make a real difference in how I feel, at least. I'm sure there's some big, important reason for that, but I have no clue what it might be. (Although I suspect that a big part of it is trying to burrow into a den and hide. At least for me. If I could wrap a quilt around myself and only have my eyes and nose showing, I would happily do that.)
Posted by cubic_me on June 12, 2004, at 14:17:33
In reply to Re: Change of therapy location » cubic_me, posted by bell_75 on June 10, 2004, at 8:12:21
Yes there is new carpet and everything smells of new paint - there were still workmen there when I was there.
The whole place is bigger, but her office is abit smaller than the old one. She had me facing away from the window (I could see it in the old room), and as the pictures weren't on the wall and the place was quite bare still, there was a major lack of things I could avoid eye contact by looking at! She didn't have a clock that was visible to me, and I didn't have my watch with me, which I found disconcerting at first, but kind of liberating after I'd got used to it; I usually always have a close eye on the clock.
I think that any change can be disruptive. I tend not to have a regular appointment slot so I've gone any time from 9 in the morning to 6 at night. I think I prefer going some time later on in the day, that way I'm not distracted by therapy for the rest of the day.
Its strange thinking I'll never go back in that old room again.
Posted by tterees on June 12, 2004, at 23:41:57
In reply to Change of therapy location, posted by cubic_me on June 10, 2004, at 4:56:25
When my therapist left the HMO, we worked out something so I could continue to see him. When I asked "where will we meet?" He told me he saw patients in his home. I was so excited! Shades of Bob Newhart with Suzanne Pleshett(sp?) serving coffee. What a disappointment. His office has a separate entrance then his house. I do like it, it is more comfortable. One of the places I truly feel safe. But I would still like that coffee!
Posted by Dinah on June 13, 2004, at 20:09:40
In reply to Re: Change of therapy location » bell_75, posted by cubic_me on June 12, 2004, at 14:17:33
I don't have a regular time either. I usually see him either in the morning or right after lunch. I like the morning better because I haven't been up and about doing sensible things, so I'm more open and vulnerable. But a bad therapy session can screw up the whole day.
My day of the week preference is stronger. Friday is dress down day for him, and he seems more relaxed as well. If I ever give up one day a week, and I suppose one day I must, it sure won't be Fridays. :)
Posted by cubic_me on June 15, 2004, at 5:30:32
In reply to Re: Change of therapy time » cubic_me, posted by Dinah on June 13, 2004, at 20:09:40
I have more of a preference for day than time too. I prefer to meet mid to late in the week as somehow it doesn't seem so long between sessions. I think maybe because I'm busier at weekends those days fly by and I'm soon into another week. I guess its different when you go more than once a week. I'm happy with once a week; although theres always more to discuss than time we have, I wouldn't want therapy to rule my life or feelings any more than it does. If I went any more frequently I feel like I might loose perspective, and therapy would *be* my life!
Posted by Dinah on June 15, 2004, at 8:21:16
In reply to Re: Change of therapy time » Dinah, posted by cubic_me on June 15, 2004, at 5:30:32
Oddly, I've found just the opposite to be true. When I went once a week, I obsessed a lot more over therapy, and focused more on it. Now that I go twice a week, there seems to be no urgency. I get more of my therapist, so I need him less. Few things come up that don't seem that they are able to wait a couple of days so I can put them aside. So I find myself living my life more and obsessing less.
Although I wouldn't have guessed that before I started.
Posted by cubic_me on June 16, 2004, at 9:16:24
In reply to Re: Change of therapy time » cubic_me, posted by Dinah on June 15, 2004, at 8:21:16
That's pretty interesting - I can see where you're coming from. Thanks for that!
This is the end of the thread.
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