[starfishing]

My therapist's been away for two weeks and the first session back is tomorrow morning--anyone else a little fascinated by thinking about what the first session back after a vacation or break will be like?

I feel like I both have a lot to say and very little. Six missed sessions worth of pent up material, but also the feelings we were looking at before the break seem very deeply buried and covered up now. When I think about it, it seems like part of me can feel something bubbling up, but possibly something too incoherent to talk about.

The whole therapy process kind of seems like a mystery all over again.

I'm looking forward to getting back into it and also not. Two weeks didn't feel like a long time, except when it did. And it didn't seem like a significant change until I realized that was why I suddenly felt like I had so much more free time than usual. I don't usually feel like therapy takes up a tremendous amount of time because it's just built into my whole routine, but obviously three sessions a week plus travel time plus emotional hangover time really adds up!

I suppose whatever happens, it will probably be interesting. And because of my work schedule we're meeting two days in a row, so it's nice to know that whatever comes up, there will be plenty of time and plenty of room for it.

[NP_Complete]

I'm also a 3x/week client who is having their first session back after an 11-day vacation tomorrow. I handled it kind of okay which feels weird. We had a 5-day break earlier this month and it was awful for me. Maybe it's the way we handled this break: he wrote me a letter, we spoke on the phone twice, he sent me 3 emails (2 of them unexpected). I still feel a little anxious about seeing him again tomorrow, but I don't feel totally disconnected from him either. We also had an extremely intense session the one prior to the last one before his vacation that left me feeling an intense bond with him (he touched my arm for the first time in 3 years) and I don't know if that played into this time being easier. But it could also be that I tend to shut down emotionally and maybe I've done that while he's away. I can't tell. I have no idea what we'll talk about tomorrow, but I'm glad he's back. I hope your session goes well.

[starfishing]

Thanks, hope yours goes well too. Sounds like you had an intriguing experience with this break.

[Omers]

I am usually the first client when T gets back. If it was a family thing he is usually a little flustered getting back into things. If he was away for something work related he usually comes back all eager and excited to see me. Either way they often end up being our best sessions.

[SlumberKitty]

With former T, I would usually get disconnected during her vacations and we would spend the session that she came back, getting back to a space of feeling connected, feeling valued, feeling cared about etc. If something bad happened whilst she was away we would talk about that, usually not in depth because it would be too intense for the first session back but she would want to discuss it and get it out of me and into the room so to speak. I usually found the session back satisfying but also difficult.

[feileacan]

I had today my first session after 5 week break, which makes 20 missed sessions. I'm actually travelling right now and I was considering whether to call or whether to ghost altogether. I did call but did not say where I am and why I'm not present.

We do establish connection sometimes in sessions but it has never passed over to the next session on the following day. So in that sense establishing a connection after the long holiday is not really that big thing for me because I generally have to deal with it every f... day and maybe only succeed on 1 or 2 days out of 4. It surely did not happen today but it really doesn't bother me because I don't feel in hurry.

[Lonelyinmyheart]

My T goes away in August. I find breaks very hard as a rule - I miss the t and think about her a lot. I usually count the days until the first session back and really look forward to seeing her. Sometimes I end up disappointed by the first session if I can't connect properly, usually because I over-think it and expect too much of myself. I absolutely hate the fact the time goes really quickly when I've so looked forward to seeing her for so long.

It sounds like you feel okay about the break you had? It's good it seemed to go quickly. I'm sure once you start back you will get into the routine again, especially with 3 x weekly sessions as you won't have too long in between once you start up again.

[starfishing]

Originally Posted by Lonelyinmyheart

My T goes away in August. I find breaks very hard as a rule - I miss the t and think about her a lot. I usually count the days until the first session back and really look forward to seeing her. Sometimes I end up disappointed by the first session if I can't connect properly, usually because I over-think it and expect too much of myself. I absolutely hate the fact the time goes really quickly when I've so looked forward to seeing her for so long.

It sounds like you feel okay about the break you had? It's good it seemed to go quickly. I'm sure once you start back you will get into the routine again, especially with 3 x weekly sessions as you won't have too long in between once you start up again.

Yes, the break was fine. But I don't think there's really any good or bad when it comes to it feeling like it went quickly or not. More about what happens to be stirred up at that particular moment in therapy (or not), and what's going on outside of therapy that it seems like therapy would be helpful with (or not). For me it's more typically a mixture, which I think is reasonable on the whole.

[starfishing]

Originally Posted by feileacan

I had today my first session after 5 week break, which makes 20 missed sessions. I'm actually travelling right now and I was considering whether to call or whether to ghost altogether. I did call but did not say where I am and why I'm not present.

We do establish connection sometimes in sessions but it has never passed over to the next session on the following day. So in that sense establishing a connection after the long holiday is not really that big thing for me because I generally have to deal with it every f... day and maybe only succeed on 1 or 2 days out of 4. It surely did not happen today but it really doesn't bother me because I don't feel in hurry.

This all makes sense to me. I'm typically not sure what people mean on here when they talk about "maintaining connection" or "losing connection" or other similar things. My experience is much more session by session.

[Lonelyinmyheart]

Originally Posted by starfishing

Yes, the break was fine. But I don't think there's really any good or bad when it comes to it feeling like it went quickly or not. More about what happens to be stirred up at that particular moment in therapy (or not), and what's going on outside of therapy that it seems like therapy would be helpful with (or not). For me it's more typically a mixture, which I think is reasonable on the whole.

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that the break going quickly was all that mattered in terms of how you experienced it. It think that was my issue as for me all I can think about is getting through it asap. I can see how the stuff that is coming up for you would be the dominant factor and I'm glad you got through it as best you could.