Who lies down in session?

I've been having a lot of difficulty opening up to my T and accessing my emotions in session. As a result I have become kind of stuck (there are a number of reasons for this but I wont get into that here). Anyway, my T (who is psychodynamically focused) suggested lying down on the couch instead of sitting in the chair and facing her. My initial reaction to this was "hell no!" but after thinking about it some more I'm kind of curious to try it.

I just wanted to hear from some of you about your experiences with this?

I do not regularly lie down, but I have once or twice, mostly when I have been exhausted and it has been helpful. When I have trouble facing T, I close my eyes and focus inward.

That would make me anxious..

Nope. Just no... when I've been really tired, I simply curled more into the chair. Even just her suggestion that I lady on the floor to trace the little of my body then get back into the chair had me flinching.
I have a ton of trust issues, so I rarely ever close my eyes or get into any sort of "vulnerable" position. I trust my t for the most part, but I still would not feel comfortable laying down.
You however, seem interested in it, so it might be worth a try. If it's too uncomfortable, you can always sit up again.

I don't because his couch is so old I am afraid to break it. It's the antique he was analyzed on, and he says it comes from all the way back to the 20's. I am not a small person and I am terrified of breaking it. I want to lay down, I'd like to have the experience. He says it helps. I don't want to break his antique couch that he has an emotional attachment to. I would be devastated.

Out of all the therapists I've been to, only one had a couch. Coincidentally, the only time I ever got physically ill in therapy was while seeing her. She offered me crackers & soda & asked if I'd like to lay on her couch. It did make me feel better. That's the only time I've ever been offered or done so.

Ok, I voted yes, but T3 is a bit different. She is a body-centered psychotherapist, also a massage therapist, and some sessions I just sit and talk, some sessions I spend entirely on the table, and some are half and half. I came in pretty upset today, so we went straight for the table and I stayed there for the entire 1.5 hour session. She usually has me on my back but today I was laying on my stomach. It has taken a little getting used to, but I have tried reiki and that helped me get used to having someone hovering over me with their hands on me. This is psychotherapy though, so my insurance covers her.

And with T1, I have laid on her couch, but we weren't really practicing therapy then. I had just suffered a huge loss earlier that day and was pretty upset, and felt mostly shut down. My T didn't have anyone coming in after me, so she let me stay there while she did some paperwork, and I cried myself to sleep laying on her couch. She woke me about 45 minutes later.

My T has joked that I could lay on her couch week after week and nap if I didn't want to delve into any "real" issues.

T only has chairs no couch so it's kind of impossible. I wish she had a couch so I could lie down.

Even if i did want to, it is not a choice.

Thank you everyone for your responses!
I'm quite anxious about lying down and I'm scared of being vulnerable in general but that is kind of why I want to try and face that and work through it. Also, the one time I was able to even come close to crying in front of T was when we were in silence and T wasn't looking at me (she was taking notes). At the time I was angry about it but now I see that the lack of eye contact helped me feel my emotions more and that is why I think lying down might be helpful.

My T has one of those tradition "Freudian" looking couches which I found amusing when I first saw it just because it was so stereotypical.

I have very funny reason for not lying down. I have a very busy life and lack of sleep due to working two jobs. If I lie down I'd fall asleep. I dose off in dentist chair etc so no no lying down for me. Other than that I don't think I would oppose to it

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I like lying down but I think of it more as making myself at home on the couch. I only lie down on my side though- I don't think I could envision lying on my back or anything- that would feel weird to me.

Both my Ts only have chairs in their offices, so lying down would be impossible. I don't think I'd be comfortable laying down. But I would like to put my feet curled up next to me if that were an option.

I would prefer standing at a lectern. Sitting on the woman's horrible couch is a concession. There is no way I would ever sit where I could not see her, let alone lie down.

Most of my Ts have had couches but I was never invited to lay down nor would I have done so.

I chose "other."

The client's chair is a love seat. I sit up on one side of the love seat but when I am trying to relax or find some comfort I lean over and rest my head on the armrest.

I don't lay/lie all the way down. I don't think I would want to.

I haven't laid down in many years. Sleep sitting up. It wasn't untul one day I asked t if i was really laying down?! She said I was! Since then I now lay down in her office, sometimes I sleep sometimes i don't but it's now it's the safest space for me and being able to feel that safety has helped my therapy progress.

I'm the same as Divine, I would worry about falling asleep. Do you mind telling us how it worked with you? Did you just nod off when she was talking? Or go quiet and then doze. Did she mind? What was she doing while you slept? Did she doze too? Sorry for all the questions but this has been on my mind for a while but I've never found anyone to ask.

I did for more than a year, then switched back to sitting up. I returned to lying down for a few months, earlier this year, but am back to sitting. My T has a couch at the other end of the office from where the chairs we sit in.

Lying down worked remarkably well for me. It was very helpful.

I would lie down if my t had a couch.

Sometimes I fall asleep in the middle of talking and sometimes it's just quiet and I crash. She doesn't mind at all. She never goes to sleep. I believe she does paperwork. Sometimes she lets me stay asleep until she's done seeing her other clients (she'll see them in another office) and then wake me up and sit with me while I gather myself and we'll leave together. That happens rarely. Most of the time it's me waking up right before the end of session.

I haven't lied down during therapy, but it's something I'd like to try. I would be too nervous to just do it though. She would have to ask me to, and then I would.

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Oooh...I find this so interesting, Crocus! What do you think was helpful for you? I already don't make eye contact with my T, so I wonder what the difference in lying down was? For me, I'd feel so much more vulnerable. I hope you don't take this negative in any way, I am generally curious
Wow, you actually fall asleep while talking? Do you have any sort of sleep disorder? I can't sleep in any odd places..never could on car rides (probably much to my parents chagrin), and am thankful I take sleep meds every night.

Not in the middle of a word but sometimes in the middle of one of her sentences, that's rare. Usually, it's during her reading my daily summary. I take sleep meds but sometimes my brain overrides them and I don't sleep so I'm usually extremely sleep deprived. I can't sleep in odd places either, but there is something about my T and her space that just greatly calms me.