Comments on: Lying on the Couch

By: In the Therapist’s Chair | Psych Central

In the Therapist’s Chair | Psych Central — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:08:00 +0000

[...] in her first book, “In the Therapist’s Chair.” Through the eyes of a sensitive, gentle and intuitive therapist (although she does admit to getting enraged occasionally), she weaves the stories of long-term [...]

By: john

john — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:04:25 +0000

Are you kidding me?
Patients lie to their therapist because they lie to themselves. The patient’s lie is the heart of all treatment of psychoneurosis. The art of analytic psychotherapy examines the motivations of these lies that inform one’s personal (often pathological) experiences of the world and shapes one’s expectations of self and others. A therapist is not there to affirm your problematic worry but to help you consider just how the affirmation of certain others have come to so concern you.

By: Chris Newsome

Chris Newsome — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:51:42 +0000

The problem I have always noticed with therapy is that the therapist always wants you to open up and share your deepest, darkest secrets, but they don’t want to share anything with you. I know it is their job and everything, but when you are trying to build a relationship of trust, and the other person is not telling you anything about themselves, it just doesn’t seem balanced. Again, I know that is not what therapy is about, but maybe it would help some people open up, even if the therapist just shared some mundane anecdotes about their life, it might ease the tension.

By: Sonia

Sonia — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:20:36 +0000

Sometimes it is very difficult to talk about what ails us. It is so personal and tied up in who we think we are it is impossible to verbalize our issues and problems. If you find another therapist you may find yourself in the same situation – simply unable to tell them the truth as well. My advice would be that if you have a trusting rapport with your current therapist, stick to him/her. If you don’t and feel another therapist would be much more helpful, then look elsewhere. Is this about your ability to disclose or their ability to put forward a trustworthy stance?

Either way, perhaps you could write down what you really want to say, warts and all, and give it to your therapist to read in session. That greatly lessens the emotional impact and embarrassment of having to say out loud what the issues are that you have been not telling the truth about. This is what my trustworthy and non-judgmental therapist recommended to me and it worked.

Your therapist is not there to moralize or preach. By disclosing distressing personal information it is more than likely you will deepen the therapeutic relationship in an enriching, connecting capacity. A therapist is there to get to know you, to “get” you, to understand and validate you and your problems in an empathic manner. I’ve lied to my therapist, but when I confessed and told the truth I felt a vast relief in knowing that she still cared about me in the same way as before.

By: Shadowx5470

Shadowx5470 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:15:04 +0000

I’ve knowingly lied to my therapist on a near constant basis. I wanted to tell her the truth (or actually talk about my issue) but I just found myself unable to put the words out there… So, now I’m searching for a new therapist

-Shadow

By: anon

anon — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:17:01 +0000

I had a psychiatric assessment and downplayed everything i was asked. feel quite guilty now.

By: Naru

Naru — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:00:07 +0000

I went to a counsellor once to help me with procrastination. As she was asking me questions, I found myself bending the truth. Because I am a psychology student, I knew that she wasn’t judging me, but still. I was putting less emphasis on the important things than I should have. I don’t really know why. Maybe it’s because asking for help is a scary thing, and we tend to try and reduce the risk of opening up to the helper.

Unfortunately I got very little out of that session, except from a little insight into what therapy includes.

By: Anxiety Help

Anxiety Help — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:27:57 +0000

Lying on the Couch | Therapy Unplugged http://bit.ly/BWz47

By: PsychCentral

PsychCentral — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:29:10 +0000

Therapy Unplugged: Lying on the Couch @http://zz.gd/ee6092