On being a psychotherapist

From authority to subjectivity

Abstract

Keynote address at the NZAP Conference, Tauranga, February 2000

It wasn't the first time I willed myself to sit still, keep my mouth zipped and remember that I was the therapist whose job it was to understand and hear behind the viciousness emanating from my patient. Every fifth one or so of Helena's sessions had that effect on me. We'd hit extreme turbulence and as if from someplace else, I'd hear a voice telling me to buckle up, hold steady, breathe normally and think hard. Momentarily, I became the passenger who needed to be calmed, rather than the analyst at least half in charge of the session.