[stopdog]

Do you touch stuff at the therapist's office? I never did. I never even moved pillows on the woman's horrible couch or the clock for clients on the table and I took in my own handkerchief on the extremely off chance that I might need it.
For me, doing so would have demonstrated a level of informality that I did not want to encourage.

[DP_2017]

yes but usually only if i ask

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by stopdog

Do you touch stuff at the therapist's office?

Not too much, no. I already broke two chairs, so i think ive done my share.

[ruh roh]

Just the pillows (to move them out of the way) and Kleenex.

[mostlylurking]

There's not much to touch, but I generally will not put my steel travel mug down on the coffee table because it's glass and it just makes me imagine breaking the glass somehow.

[feralkittymom]

I feel fine arranging things in a minor way for my comfort: changing lighting, moving pillows, adjusting the window blinds. But I'm also careful to remove my shoes if it's messy out, and that seemed to delight her, so I guess others don't.

[Anastasia~]

Yes, I move the big pillow on the sofa and I have used Kleenex before.

[velcro003]

i'm a toucher of things in general. i drove my mother crazy as a child bc she couldn't take me anywhere without me touching everything. the office i see T in isn't her stuff, but this other T has about 1 million knick knacks and i usually pick up a rock to fidget with, and i always move the ugly pillow away from me and put the other one on my lap.

[RubyRae]

I think I have touched everything except my therapist.I have a need to know my surroundings and since things aren't always what they seem,touching is the best way to find out.

[kecanoe]

I move pillows if I don't like where they are sitting. I definitely use their Kleenex. I move coasters, if needed. I drink coffee at one Ts office-he supplies it. I usually take water in to other Ts offices-I have an extremely dry mouth (meds/illness) and cannot go an hour without drinking something.

T1 and Ex T have teddy bears that I have held on occasion. I probably touch other stuff, too.

I behave differently in different T offices. But I figure they have Kleenex, stuffed animals, pillows, coffee/water/coasters because they want to have them available to clients. I figure they write off the cost of Kleenex.

[CharlieStarDust]

There's not too much to touch. Once there was a blanket on my chair, and I asked if I could move it. I generally don't like touching things that aren't mine.

[guilloche]

I voted "Other".

With last T, I had to bring a pillow from the waiting room in to his office, because he had no pillows in there. What kind of a T has no pillows in their office? He eventually would make sure the pillow was there waiting for me.

He also had a bunch of little things that clients could pick up and play with. I didn't touch them (or notice them) at first, but eventually I think he pointed them out - and with much trepidation (because it's not my space, so it feels weird) - I took them out to fiddle with, once or twice. Including the fabulous squishy water-and-glitter-filled ball that I really loved.

Mostly I brought a stretchy bead bracelet that I could stretch and mangle while we talked.

New T... I rearrange the pillows every time I get in there to make them more comfortable. They're good pillows, but the couch is a little odd/deep, so I like one pillow behind me, and one in front of me (to squeeze and hide behind when things are rough).

I don't touch anything else in her office. Honestly, I can't think of anything else she has that I could touch without feeling like I'm crossing a boundary. I can't imagine just grabbing a book from her bookshelf, for example.

I kind of wish there were more little things to pick up and play with... stuff that can be stretched and contorted without breaking, so that you can mangle it a bit when you're stressed!

Yep. The pillows on the couch and the teddy bear, and of course the sand play toys and kleenex, and it took me a few times of her offering before I actually utilized her drum. Oh and I finally started helping myself to the pitcher of water. It took me FOREVER to start doing that lol. She even remarked on it the first time I said "yes" when she asked if I wanted some. She goes "that's the first time you've ever said yes!" Now i just get it myself.

[NP_Complete]

Yes, pillows mainly. Kleenex, of course. Sometimes I turn off the lamp next to me when it starts feeling like an interrogation light. I asked once if it was okay and he said yes, so I don't hesitate now when it's bothering me.

Oh yeah I turn off the lamp, too.

[growlycat]

Kleenex placement, tea/accessories but I bring my own mug, rearrange pillows and on rare occasions I may use the throw blanket on his sofa or he will give me a “worry stone” to mess with.

if I have my backed turned and we are in chairs, I may touch books on bookshelf. Run fingers over their spines etc.

[AllHeart]

I move the pillow away from the far left corner of the couch so I am sitting as far away as possible from my t. I move it back at the end of my session. The only other item I have touched is the magic wand sitting on her table. Sometimes I need the fidget. I have taken her kleenexes but never touched the box so I don't count that as touch. I did touch her doorknob once when she couldn't get up to open the door for me herself.

[atisketatasket]

I move pillows out of my way, I extract Kleenex from the box, I fidgeted with DBC’s 40+-year-old stuffed frog and I fidget with Info’s polar bear (whose origin she can’t remember), and No. 3’s amethyst paperweight. I guess I fidgeted with No. 2’s knick-knacks too.

I never asked permission. It wasn’t like a Ming vase.

I need to play with things to stay even slightly calm in therapy. CW had nothing within reach to play with, and that was annoying.

[Wonderfalls]

He was a child therapist so in his old office he had toys nearby. When he moved and beautifully decorated his new office I told him, after awhile, that he should have pillows on the couch that you can hold on to if you need an anchor, or a shield. He gave me the small smug smile he occasionally had. I wondered if his point was that he wanted the patients "bare" and open to him. But it could have just been he thought pillows would get dirty? Or if they wouldn't go with the decor? (I considered those prissy things in revenge for the smile.) I think it would be nice if therapists did have fidget things like rocks.

[InnerPeace111]

No, I would never touch anything in my T’s office. Not in a million years. I am there to talk and work on my self-growth...not to explore the office. It would be highly disruptive and distracting to me.

Never have, never will. Its not my office so why would I touch things?

[UnderRugSwept]

Only to gingerly move the pillows out of the way.

[WarmFuzzySocks]

There are toys and books in the waiting room. Sometimes I fiddle with the perplexus ball while I wait, and i’d probably pick up a book if there were an interesting looking one. My kids have a couple at home and they’re fun to try. I move the pillows, and I’ve used the blanket a couple times when I was cold.

I figure that’s what those things are for.

I put other. I borrowed a book once and asked to hold a fiddle toy once. But both those were a couple of years ago and I haven't touched anything more recently.
ETA: I forgot I played with some blocks he had one session. Not sure how helpful I found playing. I'm not in a hurry to repeat it.