Interesting for me at the moment as I am about to change therapy places.
I currently see T ina hospital clinic. Her room is nice, she has a desk, but then 2 arm chairs opposite each other where we sit. She has some of her own things such as pictures and cushions. But basically it is furnished the same as all the other rooms in the clinic.
I have always found the chairs not very comfortable, but I take my shoes off and tuck my feet up.
T is having a baby soon and will be on maternity leave from the hospital for up to 3 years. I am transferring to her private clinic. I will have to start paying now, but will get 2/3 back.
I have been getting anxious that it will be different, she will be different or I won't feel comfortabler in her room.
Yesterday I went there for the first time to see. It was nice and I could see the difference that this was her room that she had furnished herself.
The 2 armchairs were so comfortable and when I commented on this T said immediatly that she never liked the ones in her other office!
I still have a feeling that T was a little different, more at home and like this was 'her' place.
We had a light session, partly because I found myself reluctant to feel too much in a new ituation.
I have still 6 weeks before we move, but I am glad I have seen the new place and have time to adjust.
I really liked it, but it did feel different and not quite safe yet.

I think T's room simply says "welcome home"!!

Poppet:-

quote:

! it was just like him, totally disorganised, with piles

.....then I realised there was a bit more to that sentence

AV read everything before putting your fingers into action!!

Umm interesting article cat

my t's space is very her, very neat and tidy. Its very much like someones front room, lived in rather than clinical but soooooo tidy and with objects but not clutter.

Its neutral tones for the three sofas with accent accessories in white and cushions both white and the same colour as the sofas to highlight. the little side tables are neutral colour too. according to t she did not want too much white as it would be too cold and hospital like. Her book cases along one wall are neat and tidy and very organized unlike mine

She has some a few objects on a simple shelf behind her, like a Russian nesting doll, some Webbles. Further along the shelf she has a couple of postcard sized prints and a couple of lovely little bronzes of rabbits. I once asked about some of things she has and explained their choice to me. She works with a lot of clients who are visually overloaded but also use the objects sometimes to ground. t has explained why she chose some of the things as well. Caring for her environment shows to me that she thinks about how it will look to her clients as well as it being personal to her

"I, unlike most of the shoddily thrown together office settings you will encounter in this town, was coordinated by a person with taste, style and a good color intuition. It may even have been a professional decorator, but this is something you will not be able to determine and that I will not disclose. Observe the splendour of my color palette, the rich tones balanced by cooler hues! I glory in black, brick red, turquoise, and this strange greeny gold you will not be able to name. However! I am not altogether snotty, for if you observe more closely, you will find many objects here of sentimental or inspirational value that do not obviously coordinate. This shows I care about more than appearance and indeed am somewhat relaxed. It is even messy in here on occasion. Organization is not my strong point. Take a deep breath. T will be here soon. You do feel relaxed, don't you? Note that plant in the corner: there is life to be found!"

My T's office talks a lot.

Hmm...well I would say that her office says that she's very personable. She's her own unique person and she's an awesome combination of country yet very chic and modern. It also says she's very homie and wants people to feel welcomed, comfortable, and relaxed Ts office is pretty much another lil safe haven slash home for me

my T's office doesn't say much i think, it's trying to be a 'blank screen', frankly i think it's a little outdated but comfortable enough. it's definetely not pretentious and that's what i like the most about it. it has lots of books.

puppet

Posting yesterday how nice T's new place is and how I felt good that I had been there to see it.
Woke up this morning thinking about all the things that are different. Although my chair was good I did not like where I was in the room. The room is bigger than her other room and very light and airy, but did not feel safe.
I did not feel comfortable enough to open up at all.
Now I have been anxious all day thet I don't like her room and I don't want everything to change.
I want to stay in her old familiar roommy old not pregnant T back!
Someone please tell me this is normal and it is just a reaction to a change in my safe place.

T's office says:


"I'm roomy and can handle a lot of people. I'm square and sometimes a bit rigid. I'm professional and a professional. The oversized plant can attest to the fact that I'm nurturing and caring. I'm a bit bland and very organized. I need more color in my life. I can hold back quite a bit. I'm not giving anything away re: my personality or my personal life except that I like baseball, music and penguins."

It's a funny thing to think about...

For the first year and a bit that I saw my T, her office was based out of her home.... It spoke of her work/life balance... As occasionally there were visual representations of her children, or a remnant present from another aspect of her life... But in general it was simple, understated and well put together. Like her.

A few months ago, my T moved to a shared office space outside of her home. The lack of how that space actually fits her has become a point of amusing discussion between us... Nothing in the space seems like 'her'. Oddly enough, she still creates a comfortable, easy space, purely with her personality... Even if there are fake flowers. haha

It's late but I felt I needed to comment here.

I was very attached to my oldT's office. His office was in an old farmhouse that had lots of charm and character and felt like "home" to me. I spent many hours there not only in my sessions but in the waiting room waiting for my son to finish social skills group or his own sessions. I studied a lot there for school. Sometimes the kids would be making chocolate chip cookies or pizza or you could smell popcorn. It just felt like a real home.

His office had a big beautiful fireplace, oak floors with an oriental rug, nice views and it was warm and cozy. I finally felt as if I had a safe home, a refuge. It was painfully wrenching when he abandoned me abruptly and I never was able to go back there, not even to say goodbye to the home I had lost. I pass by the building often because it's on a main road to town but I am banned from ever entering there again and it was another huge loss.

I had a really difficult time acclimating myself to my current Ts office. It is more sterile and looks like a basic, no frills business office. I gravitated towards his floral queen Ann chairs because they felt more warm and welcoming than his cold leather couch. When he decided to replace those chairs with cold leather chairs it caused me a great deal of pain and I felt unsafe there. I had a great deal of trouble trying to feel safe there and I was missing the old farmhouse and the warmth I felt there.

It has taken a very long time to settle in with my T and, while I still don't care for his office, I do feel safer there now. I won't sit on his leather chairs and sit on a blanket that I spread on the chair each time I see him.

My T has been very patient with me about this. He has explained to me that because as I was growing up the people around me were unsafe I attached to my surroundings and used them to help me feel safe. So inanimate objects became my anchors of safety... not the people. This makes a lot of sense but I didn't realize this before.

He has worked with me to help me understand and learn that it is HIM that keeps me safe. HE is my home and no matter where we are if he is there I am safe. Even if it's just email or a phone call, my safety and well being is with him, not his chairs or his office. He is the important part of what I am feeling.

I think it's finally beginning to work and my feelings are starting to change. I am believing in what he says.

TN

M: y T. office is horrible & by my 3rd session I had to bite my tongue not to say anything. Ugh! I don't know how he could b comfortable in such a place. I obviously hate it. Just another reason on my list to leave.

Saw T today back in the hospital and it felt so safe to be back there in our familiar. She asked how I felt about last week in her private office. I told her as I said here that I felt ok when I left, but the next day got very anxious about it not feeling safe and not being able to talk there.

Although I felt silly I told her that I did not like where I was sitting, it felt too exposed and I wanted to sit in her place which was next to the wall. I told her I was anxious about asking her in case she said no.
I really should know my T better by now!
She said why would she say no, of course I can sit wherever I feel most comfortable and safe. She knows I like to hug a cushion while I talk and she said there is a blanket there if I want or I can stretch out on the sofa.

I had been worrying about this all week, but thought it was too silly to mention! I am glad I did because now I feel much happier about the change of place.

I find this fascinating!
My current T's office has light green/light celery colored walls with white wood trim and a few framed pics of dog artwork. It is a carpeted room with three chairs (two next to each other and one across), a small window, a medium sized bookcase with her books and a clock. On top of the bookcase is her incense burner and aromatherapy thing. Also, her computer is on top of her desk in the far corner of the room.

My former T's office had a tall bookcase with a ton of books for adults as well as little toys and stuffed animals. She also had a couple of small baskets of kids books, games, crayons, paper, blocks, and such. It was a carpeted room with two chairs, a loveseat, a small table, a desk with a computer and a lamp, her credentials hung above another little bookshelf by her computer desk. Her desk was often cluttered with piles and piles of files. She often joked too about my file being lost. Former T had several plants and knick knacks along the long window sill. The entire middle and top half of one wall were windows. That was due to the type of building she was in. I used to escape out the window when I didn't know what to say, disassociating, or I was trying to avoid something. She also had drawings that children made her taped up on the back of her door. There was a painting hanging above her desk that I would look at sometimes. It felt lonely. I don't know how to describe it other than that. It was one figure (shadow-like). I also felt that sometimes I thought T was lonely. Once in a while I felt cramped and like I was lost in the clutter in there. Other times I felt comfy and cozy. sigh.
I still miss her.

I often wonder what my office will look like when I become an official T. That will be many years from now though. I picture it warm, welcoming, clean, relaxing, and like a cozy living room. Did you know there are recommendations for how many feet apart furniture should be placed to make clients feel welcome? T's are suppose to also watch whether clients move their chairs back or scoot them forward and such. I remember reading in my first T training class about furniture arrangement and the way you present yourself in your office as well as what types of items you have in there if you are going to work with children. Also, facial tissue/kleenex is a-must-have in every therapy room, of course.