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I saw a formally trained psychoanalyst (a psychologist) for about 5 sessions. It drove me crazy.
It isn't about a couch and lying down. It's about the type of relationship that you two have, your interaction style, driven by the T. Generally the patient has to drive everything. The T sits and reacts rather than "acts," and the burden is on the patient to carry all conversation. I felt like all I was getting from her was a rewording of my sentences in the form of a question "Why do you think that X...........?" Very minimal feedback at all. Almost no--or none-- interpretations, no suggestions, etc. There was no idle chit-chat whatsoever, she just didn't respond at all. I didn't feel like I was with a human being.
She had the couch and offered it, but gave me the choice. Don't focus on that, that's an atmospheric thing, however much it might affect you; it's the interactive behavior and verbal comments between the two that are the heart of it. I felt very alone and lonely. Maybe she was extreme, but that's the general way it goes, I hear.
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out of my mind, left behind
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