Some of the things psychologists look for are your posture, hands, eye contact, facial expressions, and the position of your arms and legs. Your posture says a lot about your comfort level.
These include the client's body postures, gestures and facial expressions, and sensations like tingling, trembling, tightness or body heat or coldness which can be used to reduce ANS arousal and heal the trauma.
Scanning our body for tightness, emotion, specific sensations such as a sinking gut can help provide insight into how we experience the world and provide direction for steps going forward. A therapist is not a keeper of all the right answers and does not intuitively know what is best for you.
While your client is not responsible for analyzing their body language and aligning that with what they're saying, it's essential that you do. As a therapist, it's part of your job to ensure that your body language is not off-putting to your client.
Hands. Your client's hands can give you clues about how they're reacting to what comes up in the session. Trembling fingers can indicate anxiety or fear. Fists that clench or clutch the edges of clothing or furniture can suggest anger.
When the psychologist mirrors, he or she is giving attention, recognition, and acknowledgement of the person. If the patient has a deep need to feel special, than the therapist's interest in understanding, and the provision of undivided attention, is reparative.
Emotional information is stored through “packages” in our organs, tissues, skin, and muscles. These “packages” allow the emotional information to stay in our body parts until we can “release” it. Negative emotions in particular have a long-lasting effect on the body.
Your therapist's relationship with you exists between sessions, even if you don't communicate with each other. She thinks of your conversations, as well, continuing to reflect on key moments as the week unfolds. She may even reconsider an opinion she had or an intervention she made during a session.
Lower Back = Guilt, Shame, and Unworthiness
Lower back issues often correlate with feelings of low self-worth and lack of self-acceptance. Feelings such as guilt, shame, and even sexual inadequacy or trauma can be stored here as well.
Emotional Trauma Symptoms
Psychological Concerns: Anxiety and panic attacks, fear, anger, irritability, obsessions and compulsions, shock and disbelief, emotional numbing and detachment, depression, shame and guilt (especially if the person dealing with the trauma survived while others didn't)
Closed body language implies fear, discomfort, and vulnerability, and includes hunched posture, head down, legs crossed or tightly closed, and arms covering torso.
PTSD symptoms are generally grouped into four types: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions.
Changes In Behavior. Small changes in behavior can often be the first sign that a therapist is attracted to a client. At this point, the therapist might not be fully aware of the attraction, leading them to act on emotions they would otherwise keep in check. The therapist might seem more flirtatious, and even seductive ...
Therapist Green Flags
They keep you accountable to the changes you've expressed that you want to make. They show cultural humility. They are culturally sensitive to your identity. They validate your feelings.
But in other more serious situations, therapists are lawfully bound to keep the client or others safe. In general, therapists are required to keep everything you say in confidence except for the following situations: planned suicide intent. planned violence towards others.
Your therapist's relationship with you exists between sessions, even if you don't communicate with each other. She thinks of your conversations, as well, continuing to reflect on key moments as the week unfolds. She may even reconsider an opinion she had or an intervention she made during a session.
The short answer is that you can tell your therapist anything – and they hope that you do. It's a good idea to share as much as possible, because that's the only way they can help you.
The short answer to the question is: Yes. If you have a question, you should ask. Your questions are valid and likely relevant to the therapeutic process. (Blatantly inappropriate questions are of course a different story.)
Anger and suppressed rage are often stored in the buttocks.
Therapists keep a close eye on you because: It helps them take in not just the content of what you're saying, but how you're saying it, your body language, and other subtle cues. Eye contact is one of many active listening skills that help them listen to you more deeply and show you they're fully present.
Back to Fictional Reader's question about why it may be difficult to look a therapist in the eyes. Some possible root causes range from guilt, shame, anxiety, low self-esteem, shyness, past abuse, depression or autistic spectrum disorders to varying cultural norms and cognitive overload.
According to new research, 72 percent of therapists surveyed felt friendship toward their clients. 70 percent of therapists had felt sexually attracted to a client at some point; 25 percent fantasized about having a romantic relationship.