When your therapist yawns

Just hearing about y'all yawning is making me yawn lol

oh god, even more reason to dislike her

Yes, that's also exactly how I feel.

But I think aside from exploring our own projections of the attributions we make about what the yawn means. I also think it's important to explore the issues we might be skirting - hence the entertainment factor. I think entertainment for a therapist = us disclosing/working through some deep *****/the unsaid.

I don't think I have ever seen my T yawn. On the other hand, I have yawned a ton. My T never thinks I'm bored or anything. She knows I suffer from sleep problems. The only thing that worries her is that I tend to shed tears when I yawn, so at first glance she thinks I'm crying/upset.

Last week mine farted so loudly and suddenly that he startled himself

My mouth was open and everything

Back on topic, they yawn, etc and it doesn't bug me. I yawn on the job too. Among other things.

I dont know if i could handle that!!!

OMG, I am laughing so loud here. I would be so outta there!

My T has never yawned... and it seems I differ from most on this, because it would upset me.

not sure that is funny?

Yawning is caused by poor oxygen in the brain

I thought the poster was being facetious.

Even though I know it's natural to yawn and it doesn't have to mean that one is bored, still, when my T did it I looked at him as I'm going to eat him alive.

I've been seeing my therapist almost every week for like 4 years and, if he's yawned, he's successfully hidden it. And I look at him a lot. I don't yawn in session either. If yawning was a common thing for either me or the therapist I'd be worried that we were not engaged enough with each other.

He does have a cold, so that explains much of it. But MC yawned, burped, coughed numerous times (usually without covering his mouth), sneezed, and blew his nose loudly during one session today.

my t has yawned many times, that is because she is tired from being too busy all the time, that is all it means.

I understand that those are all natural and T's are human but coughing without covering mouth is incredibly disrespectful in my opinion.

I agree that would be 'entertainment' for the therapist but I sometimes feel like I should get up and dance and sing, tell jokes so she'll laugh, bring interesting facts about the world to her to expand her mind, and so on. Honestly.

It upsets me because it feels like I should leave and stop talking to her. I don't like it at all.

Coughing/sneezing/blowing nose I could forgive bc my T was sick (though not to cover his mouth? gross!) Burping? If it was something unexpected and my T tried to stifle it, sure...otherwise, gross!

And I work with 2 year olds all day, so my grossness factor is pretty high. (I also have an intolerance for coughing/mouth noises too)

I think you have mentioned MC has burped before. How strange. I know many males think it is hysterical, but in a professional setting?

Is this if she yawns once or twice during a session? Is it abnormally loud?

Projecting in that you think he is boring, uninteresting, or not charming enough? Or projecting in assigning attributes to him that don't match the situation? I'm assuming the latter.

I'm insecure too. But I have never seen my therapist yawn, not once. I think I would remember as I'm hypervigilant. I complain about him a lot (lately), but this is one of the things that I like about him; that he is always engaged and very focused on me. I sometimes think he must find me uninteresting at times. I have expressed worry that in telling him the same thing over and over, that I must be boring him. I did bring up repetitive issues a lot. On the contrary, my feelings can be really extreme, vivid, and animated-so maybe that is not boring to some? He's said I'm not there to entertain him. Those were my fears not real happenings, I concluded in the end. Despite that he never reassured me that I wasn't uninteresting, we resolved this issue.

My last long-term therapist yawned here and there, maybe every other session, but I know he thought I was interesting. He yawned because I was his last patient, worked a lot of hours, saw a lot of clients, and he didn't sleep good and was tired. I, too, worried about boring him. He also said I was not there to entertain him. He also told me that clients who tell different stories all the time might be avoiding issues (and/or dishonest). He said it's good to bring up the same things over and over, because difficult issues would naturally come up over and over, and that it was a good way to address them. Can't remember his exact words. Despite worrying about being uninteresting, his yawning didn't lead me to feel insecure. I thought he was comfortable around me, which he stated from time to time.

What it means to me: being uninteresting or unlikeable means i'll be abandoned, harmed, or unprotected. Neglected. I think this conclusion is how me and my current therapist resolved the issue.

I used to yawn a lot but never yawn anymore. I am so tired all the time but never have that feel good 'sleepy' feeling. I think it has to do with my autonomic nervous system issues (fibromyalgia symptom). In fact, I took an ambien an hour ago and can't sleep. I do ambien posting a lot. Hope this isn't TMI.

By the way, both of the therapists I included here are in their 70s.

Oh, and both my therapists said i was very "intense". Guys/lovers used to tell me that too.

It could be a countertransference reaction, though your therapist seems to have ruled that out. Keep talking about it. Maybe it will help.

It kind of drives me crazy as a germophobe, though he does turn his head away from us a bit. He normally shakes hands at the end of session, but said he wouldn't today because he was sick. Does he not know that cold germs are also transferred through the air? If he still has the cough next week, maybe I'll say something (instead of just glaring at him)...especially if I also have a cough then!

It's not like a loud, obnoxious burp or anything. Fairly quiet, like he's trying to subdue it. But not silent and still noticeable. Sometimes he's drinking soda when he sees us, so not surprising if he burps then.

I responded to the coughing thing in another post--yep, it bothers me!

Having a now-6-year-old has increased my grossness threshold for sure, but it's also different if a 6-year-old is doing it vs. a 50-year-old. Like if MC started picking his nose (not counting a nose scratch). At least I haven't seen him do that!

Husband this morning commented on MC coughing without covering his mouth, then noted that he burped and I farted. I was like, "Um, I didn't fart." H said it came from my side of the room (which is also where MC is) and H said he both heard and smelled it. Pretty sure I would have noticed if I did that, so perhaps MC also farted! It was a session of both sensitive therapy and offensive bodily emissions.

What a beautiful sentence.