T looking at my mouth...

I've noticed that my T spends a lot of time looking at my mouth.
Especially when I respond to a question, by that I mean not the sound that comes out of course lol, but my mimics I guess. Has anyone else noticed this with their T?
He is not hard of hearing so it's not lip reading or anything like that, just kind of how I smile or don't smile I think.
It's kind of starting to annoy me, because when I speak I can see him not looking me in the eye but at my mouth.
Is it so easy to read people by their mimics I wonder?
Does he think I'm trying to hide something from him ??
Thanks for any ideas....

He could have a hearing problem like me, I look at the mouth too so I can match the lip reading to what I hear. It helps us.

I also am hearing impaired and rely on lipreading, especially for consonant sounds. I can tell it unnerves some people, so if I notice that happening, I will explain why I do that.

It is a good question to ask her and talk about how you feel about it. Or have you asked already and that's how you know he isn't hard of hearing?

Interesting never had that issue. I agree he might be hard of hearing. Is he older?

Thanks for your replies.
I'm 90% sure it's not something to do with his hearing.
My husband is hard of hearing and reads my lips all the time. This is different.
When T says something, he looks at my mouth to see how I react.
It doesn't have to involve me speaking, lots of times I don't say anything.
I smile a lot and I'm obviously giving lots of things away with my mouth and mimics
I'm so curious what they are...

maybe it's just his way of showing that he's engaged. I know that my t studies my face, not just my eyes. Ask him about it. He might not even realize he's doing it. Or maybe he avoids eye contact on purpose. Some clients would rather not have their therapist staring at them in the eye.

He looks me in the eye when speaking but after he says a comment he looks directly at my mouth, even if a verbal answer isn't required. To see what my mouth is doing, lol.
I think I will have to ask him..! But maybe he won't want to tell me what I'm giving away!

Maybe he really love your lips? Do you have full, beautiful lips? LOL

I'd definately ask why he's doing that- reading facial expressions is fine but staring at your lips? I'd weird me out.

Does he ever make eye contact? I get really uncomfortable looking into other people's eyes. I also have a hard time concentrating on what someone is saying unless I watch their mouth.

I suspect it is just a habit, the way he probably listens to everyone rather than it having any significant meaning. He probably doesn't even know he is doing it.

I second this opinion.

I can't look people in the eyes without losing my train of thought. I tend to look more at the nose/face/forehead just not directly in the eye because I find that i'm too focused on "maintaining appropriate eye contact" to keep up the conversation.

Now that you have put it this way, I can relate. Here is what I think. My T is an analyst and I don't know it that's relevant but I think it could be. I think when she does this, she is *really* listening and not paying attention to my mouth, but just avoiding eye contact so that she can hear with that "3rd ear" and interpret what she's hearing. She doesn't do it all the time, so there must be times when she needs to focus intently on the words and how they relate to my therapy as a whole. I think she is 'connecting dots', making connections and associations. This is the way she can connect seemingly unconnected ideas and seeing their common thread or theme: abandonment, or feeling left out, etc.

What do you think? Could your T be doing something similar?

Thanks Echoes. Yes, I think my T is definately analysing something by looking at my mouth or seeming to look at my mouth
I just wish I knew what it was and what I am letting out...
Sometimes I think my T knows me better than I know myself, what a scary thought!

I was reading replies on another board and one person explained they were pretty short so (when standing) would have had to look up to look in their eyes, etc. I would analyze how the two of you sit; it could be that it is "easier" to look at your mouth than your eyes?