Therapist notes: Co-creating Containers for Rich, Juicy Therapy (in the post-COVID world)
I now see my clients on a video screen. How do we create a container for therapy when we are not in the same space as our clients?
Therapy offices are contained places. They are spaces in which people can feel and express and experience themselves in a safe and protected way, held safely by the space and the therapist.
Clients come to therapy because something isn’t working in their lives. They feel miserable, or empty, or distraught, or numb. We can work with that. In the body-centered psychotherapy of bioenergetics*, we work with people’s somatic structure to create a container to be free to express and explore their deepest emotional experiences. This might mean helping them to release constriction in their bodies so that they can feel more of themselves. It also might mean helping them to find and feel their edges and surfaces, so that they are aware of their limits and boundaries. Whether over-contained or under-contained, the person has a limited experience of “self” and cannot enjoy the full experience of being a feeling human being. A good container has space and has limits; it is flexible and adapts to the needs of the situation. It allows for full emotional expression and…
