Like several other people in this thread, I experience the silences very differently at different times. I know that my T's main principle is to allow me space to think and formulate my thoughts and so he is silent a lot of the time. I've never really experienced that with anybody else, and - I know I've said this before on these boards but it merits repetition - for me it is an incredible and wonderful thing that somebody is sufficiently interested in what I have to say that they are prepared to wait for ten minutes without any sign of impatience. Of course this is part of T's professional role but I have had two previous therapists and did not get this from either one of them, and it's one reason why this T is so much better for me. When previous Ts said "tell me what you are thinking" or similar, it felt like they were criticising me for wasting their time. After all, I'm seeing the therapist in order to talk about what I am thinking, so that question is always on the table. For them to verbalise it isn't helpful for me - they aren't asking because they are genuinely interested after all, so it has to be because they don't like my silence and are not considerate enough to let me phrase my thoughts. It's asking me to work by their time table, not my own, the way it feels to me. (As always this is my personal interpretation based on who I am.)

But as I say, it's different at different times, and it can be excruciating sometimes. Never because of anything my T does or says though. I never experience him as anything other than patient and present. He doesn't stare at me all the time either - that would be uncomfortable for me, I think. To connect to what Bayblue wrote above, my T is great at creating the safe thinking space.