Today we are saying the quiet part out loud. In a therapy session our responses are thoughtful, supportive and therapeutic. However, we are human and also have initial thoughts that may not be helpful and need to switch gears and put our therapy hats on. Sarah is going to give me things her clients have said in session and I am going to respond with my initial reaction, therapeutic reaction and banter reaction using humor which I do in session when appropriate.
An example is when a parent tells me their 14 year old still sleeps with them.
Initial reaction: How big is your bed, does anyone sleep, do their friends know?
Therapeutic reaction: It appears there is some anxiety about sleeping alone and this is something we can work on. It is important everyone is getting a good rest and I imagine it is hard when there is a teen in bed with you. We can do exposures to help with independent sleeping. If they do not perceive this as an issue translates into fear their kid will react negatively and they may have trauma about the transition period due to not having success in the past but it is very important to sleep independently. I will push on this because this should not be an option as an adult and will need to be addressed. I will validate them on admitting this bc usually people have embarrassment and shame about this. No judgment and it was a brave first step talking about it.
Banter: Let’s cut the umbilical cord, sell me on how this is going to work when they are an adult, if you think at 18 this will end did you not think at every age this would be the year you get your bed back.
