| Undergoing psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a uniquely subjective experience, which will very much depend on you and the type of emotional and relationship issues that arise in you. You will find that each session is unstructured and is rarely directed by the psychotherapist. This might feel difficult at first, but its purpose is to allow you to talk about whatever comes to your mind, whatever your immediate thoughts and feelings are in that particular moment. This allows the psychotherapist to respond in a uniquely analytical way, thinking carefully about what you say and exploring what you are trying to communicate emotionally at both conscious and unconscious levels of meaning.
This experience can feel very uncomfortable at first, in part because usually when you go and see a health care professional the meetings are directed and you are given specific advice as to what to do. I think the sessions can also feel very uncomfortable initially, because part of the psychotherapist’s job is to uncover and explore your way of being in the world and this can at first feel exposing and anxiety provoking.
It is, after all, something that most of us try to keep hidden from other people. We are so used to protecting ourselves and trying not to feel exposed, that when a psychotherapist points out to us their understanding of what might be going on - where the problems seem to be located - it can make us feel very vulnerable. For this reason some people do like to lie on a couch during the session so that they can feel more relaxed and talk freely about what is on their mind.
Other people, however, like to sit in a chair, particularly at the beginning of therapy, so that they can feel in contact with their psychotherapist, for whatever reason, until they feel ready to lie on the couch.
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