Summer in the UK is often seen as a time for rest, relaxation and taking a break from the normalities of routine. Children are not at school, people fly (or drive), away on their summer holidays and often, therapists take the whole of month of August off. Historically, therapists do not take much time off during the year, and save the majority of their holiday for August. This dates back to the times of Freud and other early analysts of Swiss or Austrian origin who were used to taking the whole summer month off.
What about us?
Being relatively new to full time private practice, I cannot afford to take the whole month away, nonetheless, it has been considerably quiet, as many of my clients and supervisees take a much needed break from work, and dare I say, from therapy.
As therapists we are trained to work with, and explore, what it means for a client when we take time off sessions. Do they feel abandoned? Fearful? Indifferent? Resentful? and so on, but we are not encouraged to look at how it impacts us. What do we do with this new found extra time? With the quiet? With the lack of money? Now of course, this is not something we would ever verbalise to our clients, but I strongly suggest that we explore it within ourselves and with our supervisors (unless they are also away during August! Then, we may have to save it for a later time).
Listening in the quiet
What do we do with the quiet? What does our inner voice say to us? What to do feel in our body? Tuning into ourselves can provide answers to what we may need, how the work is impacting us and perhaps, what changes we might need to make. I have enjoyed the quiet more than I had anticipated, which makes me wonder what changes I need to make to keep a semblance of this feeling and mental state come September when life returns to normal. How do I balance a busy schedule with my need for quiet, peace and space? This is an ongoing dilemma.
Time away is necessary
I firmly believe that clients and therapists need time away from weekly sessions. Clients need time to consolidate their therapeutic insights, to foster independence and to trial what it might be like to live without us. After all, we do not want anyone to remain in therapy forever. Just because a client or therapist is on a break, does not mean that the unconscious (or conscious) processing, stops.
However, I fully appreciate how difficult this may be for some clients, and I do my best to honour that. I inform each client in January of what my holidays will be for that coming year. This way we have plenty of time to emotionally and mentally prepare. I know some therapists veer away from fully exploring the impact of time off, perhaps for fear of ego, ‘how big headed of me to think that a client will care or be impacted by my absence’, but I swear to you, it is important, spend time thinking about it.
Summers end
As summer comes to an end, I am left with a hopeful feeling, as well as a desire to see my clients and supervisees again on a regular basis. They are never far from my thoughts. As much as I have enjoyed it, I also, fortunately, love my work. There has been an absence in the quiet, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is a very necessary thing.
I will end with one of my favourite quotes about summer and one which has resonated deeply with me this year.
“One benefit of summer is that each day we had more light to read by”
Until next time,
Lesley
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