Couch or chair in therapist's office.

Just a question of interest here. When in a therapist's office, do you usually sit in the chair or on the couch? I have always sat in the chair right beside my therapist's chair. On my next appt., I'm thinking about moving to sitting on the end of the couch and looking straight across to her. This probably isn't very important but it is a major decision for me, believe it or not.

((((((((((((((((( dumbunny ))))))))))))))))))))))

I think that where you sit is a big decision for everyone when going to the therapist. In my therapist's old office I sat in a chair near the door, now in her new office I sit on a loveseat because it's the only place to sit but I sit on the end nearest the window instead of the door, for me it symbolizes that I trust her more.

I think its really important..........I don't like to be to close too people as I need to be able to gauge emotion by movement.......it is part of my recovery for my therapist to be able to look me in the face, and I her. She makes me sit on a couch right in front of her.......but a comfortable distance away.

Well there are only 2 chairs in my psychologists office, one facing her and 1 at the side. I always stand though because I know there are so many germs on those chairs, I stand in the middle of the chairs anyway, close to the door lol.

I have the option of two couches one with an arm rest and one with out...the one with out the arm rest is furthest from the door of course so if i have the urge to run out i have to walk or run LOL right by her. i was considering moving spots for my next session, but i like the couch with the arm rest...its almost like i can squeeze myself into the corner and hide or something LOL...I also feel like it's a little more dimmer in that part of the room...again perfect for hiding

just sit wherever you are most comfortable and feel safest. For me hidden in the dark corner is comfy and safe for me so that's where I sit....

I play musical chairs. Gotta keep T off balance!

This is a biggy for me also. T only has a couch. I've never ever laid down in the 5yrs I've been going...we laugh about it now, and even today as I sat up I said the cushions seem to be in a cozy lie down position today, T smiled and said, yes why don't you try it LOL< I said, would that include a foot rub also?? LOL, she laughed and said, no even i Have limits LOL

There are 2 couches in his office, the north one and the south one. I always sit on the south couch, on the end near the window. He then sits down right opposite me on the north couch, on the end near the window. In our first year, he often sat in a swivel desk chair with wheels, between where I sat on the south couch and the north couch. I liked that. It was closer than we are now when we each sit on a couch. But he seems to only use the desk chair now for couples or family work. I first sat on the south couch my second session of therapy because we were doing EMDR and gizmos were there. I have never moved since that. T and I have talked about it and he has told me we could trade places and I could be on the north couch. But I like where I am.

I always find contemplating the seating arrangements and such so interesting.

In my session last night, the room seemed different, and I realized T had straightened it up. Tons of piled boxes and junk were gone from one corner. We talked about that for a while. The room feels unbalanced to me now, like the sitting end is full of furniture, and the cleaned up end is now really empty. I feel like the total amount of stuff in his room needs to be more dispersed to equal things out. Kind of like the diffusion of molecules in a solution. There is a concentration gradient now, and it makes me a little uneasy. (We didn't talk about the concentration gradient, as I don't always reveal my weird thought to my T.)

Wish my therapist had a couch or a nice comfy chair. She has her office chair at her desk, where she sits, and I sit across from her in a regular hard chair, like you'd see in an office or school.
I have to sit straight up. It would be nice at times to kick up my feet and relax more.

I went to T today knowing which chair I was going to sit in (the one nearest the window). When I got there I could tell that T has been sitting in one of the chairs (her stuff was on the table in between) and I thought, 'oh gosh, I'm going to have to sit on the love seat today!'. But then I decided to take the pillows off the chair I wanted to sit in, put them on the chair she had been sitting in which kind of forced her to the love seat. lol It is a big deal for me every time I go in to choose where I sit because I have 3 options (one of the 2 chairs or the love seat). I wanted to sit more inside the room today because I knew I'd be talking about difficult stuff and I wanted to feel protected. My T sat on the couch on the opposite side from me, so it felt like she was guarding the door. Maybe Tuesday I'll sit on the love seat. Moving the pillow(s) off one of the chairs also is difficult for me. And I just realized that today, for the first time, I didn't put everythiing back the way it was when I got there. Yikes! I guess I'm feeling safe in there with T.

I think it is an important decision and it's significance is individual. For me, I think it meant I felt a certain degree of trust and comfort.

Also, I was just sick and tired of looking at the same ole stuff while averting eye contact. lol So I moved from the couch to the chair and saw things in the room more from her perscpective. I've only sat in the chair two or three times in 2 years. I think I sit on the couch because it sits lower and so it feels like child and caretaker and that suits me fine. Someday maybe I'll grow up!

It is so interesting that your t's seem to be so tuned in with your comfort in their office. My first T I think could of cared less how I felt about where I sat. In fact if I went on Fridays we had to go to a different office and I didn't feel comfortable in that room. It was cold and ugly. The office I usually went to had a warmer feel. The lights weren't so bright and the couch was much more comfortable. I avoided going on Fridays becasue I hated that office with it's bright lights and ugly uncomfortable rigid furniture. I realize thinking back that he was such a cold rigid T that at least when I was in the orignal office it soften the atmosphere. You know he never asked how I felt about changing rooms on Fridays so I guess he didn't care which became apparent as the therapy went on.
My current T has a simple but warm office. One day my T had moved some furniture around so that the air conditioner would work and as soom as I walked in she explained why she had to move the furniture. At least she gave a heads up. Just goes to show how some people are more tuned in to the needs of others than the selfish rigid T I went to at first. Boy he makes me angry that I wasted a whole year with that jerk! Oops off the subject! Good question it made me aware of how my enviornment affects me.

no choices... just a chair. it's comfy enough... straight across from his. his office is cool... lots of interesting stuff... but i get sleepy in there... combination of things i guess.

My T has a couch and two armchairs in her office. I sit in a chair next to the T.V. tray. She has a T.V. set up with a box of kleenex's, her card, and a coaster to put your drink on. I can tell that is where she sits with the client before me because she always has to move her drink when I come in.

When I first saw her I asked her where she wanted me to sit and she said anywhere and I panicked like it was a test and there was some deep psychological meaning behind where I chose to sit. I don't sit on the couch because it looks like I would sink into it and I'm scared I wouldn't be able to get out of it. So I chose the chair. She sits on the couch. The only time she didn't sit on the couch is when my mom came to a session with me. My mom sat across from me in the other chair and Dr. M pulled her desk chair around and sat in it. I was like wooh getting all official on us. I didn't like that. I was glad when she shooed my mom out of the room and went and sat on the couch for some one on one time with me.

Jan

i think my t's office is set up like your t's. i sit on the couch opposite from her chair. my t is very creative so she has all kinds of stuff in her office. oh, and near the door are all her schooling diplomas. she has tons of schooling.

only two chairs mine and T's I could sit in hers but I would have my back to the door and i dont like that - she doesnt like it either but she does it so I can sit with my back to the wall

My therapist's office only has 3 chairs: 1 for her, 1 for myself and 1 for a possible guest (although my jacket tends to be the guest for that chair). The chairs are pretty comfortable so I have no complaints on that.

same for me.... with one addition - a recliner chair for hypnotherapy work - i hate that chair and refuse to sit in it after the first day she had me there. I pretend it doesn't exist.

Interesting responses......it is amazing how a simple thing like where to sit can cause such consternation.

I just started seeing a new therapist last week.
She has really nice furniture.
She told me to sit where ever I wanted. There was a 2-seater couch, in between 2 arm chairs. I sat in the armchair by the door, and she sat across from me in the other armchair. It felt really far away from her, but I don't know if I would be comfortable on the couch.
There was also a really uncomfortable pillow on my chair but I was afraid to move it, so I said there with it behind my back the whole time.

I actually mentioned the pillows in my T office to her. I told her it was difficult for me to move them because it's her stuff and I want to be respectful of it. She told me that one lady comes in and just drops the pillows on the floor. Good Lord! I don't think I could ever do that. lol But now I move the pillows so I can be comfortable. An hour is a long time to be uncomfortable, plus, it's distracting. Think about moving the pillow next time you go in to see T.

I"m still in the same spot on the ugly couch. My T sits in a chair that is offset to the left. There is another chair directly across from my end of the couch. I still thinki about sitting some where different. But at this time I am comfortable where I am. I don't know where most people sit. I kind of wonder if I'm odd in that I don"t sit on the left half of the couch, closer to my T's chair. My T has always seemed to be aware of the fact that I like my personal space.

One day, maybe I have the desire to move closer. For now I am just glad I am more comfortable with where I am.

Is this a psychologist/MA degree therapist or a psychiatrist?

I ask because my experience is that psychiatrists have hard straight back school style chairs cuz they simply don't give a crap.

I don't know how the heck you do therapy in such an uncomfortable and sterile chair (I imagine the office is lacking in personal touches and comfort as well?), but I wouldn't feel comfortable.

The last psychiatrist I saw (bad psychiatrist, long story is he is everything they should not be but thankfully no damage done) had hard back plastic molded chairs. I think they were brown plastic. He also took a personal phone call from his son in my presence once too. Awkward and uncomfortable.

Do you like this T?

When I first started therapy, I sat in the chair right by the door, in case I needed to bolt!!

A month or two in, I moved into the couch, which is farther into the room...but I curled up in the corner in the farthest end of the couch from T. That is where I still sit. I like it there - I can reach things on his desk to play with, and I feel comfy and safe. T sits on the couch with me now, and I like that too.

Sometimes little me likes to lay down - well, she LOVES to lay down with the pillow and a blanket - so T has to sit in his chair. But I usually get lonely and he comes and sits with me before session is over (I have to sit up to make room for him though lol)

Sometimes we play, so I have sat in his chair a couple of times, to play "I'm the therapist" and he has laid on the couch. That was funny.

I went through a stage where I felt safest on the floor, so he sat on the floor with me for a while. I liked being down there in between all of the chairs- I felt super safe.

I like that T is willing to let me move around, and especially that HE is willing to move around to help me feel comfy.

The only thing he has refused to do is to push me up and down the hall in his rolling office chair! yes, I actually asked I don't think he has ever said the word "no" to me - ever - but he did say something like "I don't think that's a good idea" lol

My T has his comfortable desk chair at his large desk, a comfortable but no thrills chair beside he desk, and a nice oversized two seater couch against the wall and then the chair he likes to sit in by the door.

My T's chair and the couch are arranged like an "L" to each other, not directly facing each other. That's good because I would be inclined to make funny faces at him if we were staring at each other.

I move around a bit, sitting here and there on the couch and chair, but I tend to sit on the couch the most. I think I might sit in the chair by his desk next time just for the hell of it. I'm not really attached to any one place as to me it doesn't really matter.

He usually asks me if I want tea, coffee, or even water. I dunno, he's nice and thinks making you comfortable makes for a more productive session---to which he'd be right. Hard to talk about stuff when your in a sterile white or puke green colored room with hard plastic chairs like a hospital room environment. Surprisingly some private practice T's (probably Pdocs... meh) have that cold environment and expect to get somewhere with their clients. Yeah righto chap.

Oh cool you play with your T's desk toys too!
I wouldn't be so into my T sharing the couch with me or any of that jazz, but that's cool that your T adjusts to try to meet his patient eye to eye in the best way.

My T has Tinker Toys. We had a discussion last time about how the new Tinker Toys were made of large plastic pieces now instead of skinny wooden ones and weren't nearly as cool as the old ones were.

I'm just waiting for him to bring in Transformers--now those would be cool. It's good for me to be occupied while talking to my T so that I don't get anxiety interfere.

Maybe I'll have to buy some Transformers now that everything "old" is "new" again. That'd be pretty sweet--- an excuse for a twenty something to play with his childhood Transformers! Awesomesauce!