If you were to meet me at a party, you might describe me as rambunctious, animated and a little irreverent. I like my coffee black and I like my humor crass.
So, it may surprise you to know that once I don my therapist scarf (or fingerless gloves, as may be the case), I tend to be the silent type. That’s right, I’ve found myself drawn toward psychoanalytic psychotherapy, often characterized by the blandly cynical gaze of the 70-year-old bearded dude, scrutinizing your be-couched form in silence.
It is not difficult to find resounding critiques of the silent therapist all over the media. When I meet new people, they
are often surprised to find that I – an edgy, biracial, Gen XYer – would ascribe to the psychological theories put forward by a legion of stodgy, homophobic white guys.
Truth is, though Freud’s ideas were taken up and used in extreme and hurtful ways, he was – in many respects – well ahead of his time. The lessons he preached (though he rarely followed them himself!) about the importance of silence in therapy are more relevant today than ever.
In this age of “more,” we are constantly bombarded by information, be it about a devastating earthquake or a Kardashian wedding. In those rare moments of quiet, we instantly reach for our phone and begin Candy Crushing it. When entertainment is instantly available, it is hard to go long without plugging into our virtual lives. With everyone on the more-is-better bandwagon, even when we’re not checking our emails, we’re being asked to spend longer hours at work, to keep active social lives and all the while expected to make time for exercise, healthy eating, political change, and The Walking Dead…Read on in Psyched in San Francisco.
