The Angle of the Dangle: Facing Your Client

Every therapist has their own needs in the room. This may be the distance you need from your client to the angle your chairs face when sitting with your client. A lighter post today with a short questionnaire on your favourite seating arrangement. Look at the following  seating arrangements below and pick the one that is most comfortable for you. I am sure the more psychodynamic of the readers will be able to interpret what each of the chair angles means. Personally I am a fifteen degrees man myself.

Make Free Online Polls

Comments

[Garth Mintun]

As a psychotherapist in Indianapolis Indiana, I enjoy your blog, find it informative and also want to thank you for the comments about our blog, "Psychotherapy Perspectives". Regarding the angle, I always ask the client (s) where they want to sit and stand until they are seated. I have chairs and a couch as well as a wicker chair. I very rarely sit in the same place and about 50% of the clients prefer the couch but often they will choose the chair as well and I often find myself on the couch. I generally like to be at a 15 degree angle( I often will position my chair at 15 degrees) too but occasionally will sit straight ahead. I generally don't like a "designated chair" for the therapist because I like to think of clients as "having the choice to choose where they will sit " and can sit where they feel the most comfortable. I also have clients who sit in different places each week and others who sit in the same seat. Even with persons who sit on the same seat week after week, I give them an opportunity to change seats if they want and sit down after they do. Thanks for the opportunity to comment. Why do you sit 15 degrees and do you have a designated chair?

[Yvette Vardy]

Once a relationship is established, I tend to sit at 15 degrees, but I've definitely moved things to 30 degrees when my client feels high anxiety or high shame. Some of my clients have found it easier to position themselves further around from me when dealing with emotions that they'd typically avoid or suppress, or when talking about difficult childhood memories.

[psychiatry emr]

Same as Garth, I have chairs and a couch as well as a wicker chair so clients can choose a sit where they're most comfortable.

Kevin

[Lo]

As a patient I have seen a few rooms while looking for a therapist, and I have been in treatment twice. I found that the rooms can often be telling, and the seating arrangement in particular.

In one instance the two chairs were so far apart that it felt artificial.
We were basically sitting at the opposite ends of a large room.
When I remarked on it, the therapist said that she needed the distance in order to think properly and have clarity on what was going on in the room.

I was in therapy with her for several years, and issues around boundaries were constant between us.
I think that a therapist whose personal boundaries are solid would probably be more comfortable with a normal arrangement, and would not feel the need to create a physical distance.

As for the angle of the chairs I am not sure...
If you have a swivel chair you can tune your angle into your client's shame or anxiety :)

If you wish to visit my blog on my own therapy the address is http://www.theseparateroom.com

[Calvin Klein]

thank you1