When you come for psychotherapy, you enter a special space, where your inner world becomes the center of attention. Clear limits of this space are essential to the effectiveness of this endeavor. These limits are called “setting”; they include the time, space, frequency, cost and general structure of the session. It is also very important for the space to be neutral, free of additional stimuli and “anchors” (connections that we unconsciously create with the images, sounds, smells etc.)
Once I had a client who had great difficulty with the time limits I set. He always insisted that I should be more flexible. Among other reasons he claimed that psychotherapy is a gift similar to that of a musician or poet, and it depends on inspiration. This argument of his was very valuable for me, because it became a basis for a good metaphor. Music and poetry in most cases are built upon a strong, almost mathematical framework. This is exactly the thing that allows one to find the best way to express feelings, experiences, and inspirations. Similarly, the “magic” of psychotherapy can happen only within the set limits, otherwise it evaporates or becomes a cacophony.
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