Hi, Dr. Robert,
I love your latest page about the dead zen master and taking on the question Is There an End to Suffering?
Listening to the recording of your therapy session was faascinating. I felt as if I was there in the room while you were speaking. It made me wish I could have that kind of therapy. And I loved what you had to say about being your own spiritual authority and how it all comes down to you. Please put up more recordings of therapy sessions. I am sending this one out to all my friends, and will look for more.
Thanks so much for your wonderful website,
Vicki
In general, you are correct. A therapist normally would not want to interrupt a a session with one client in order to take a call from another. However, a fair listener to this session would conclude, I think, that it was entirely focused on my client, even with the phone interruption, and that taking the call did not detract from the forward movement of the session. In fact, as soon as I put the phone down, I went right back to the point we had been working on, using the phone interruption to flesh out the discussion about pain.
I took the call because I could see who was calling, and knew that person was unstable, on the edge, and deeply troubled, and so needed a word from me right away, whereas my client in the office had been seeing me for years, was working on a philosophical matter, not a sensitive, emotional issue, and would not be troubled by an interruption. Essentially, therapy is a conversation between two people, and the therapist has to manage that conversation. Ask yourself if this conversation was managed properly or not.
Thanks for the comment,
RS
I liked hearing this. I like the idea that authority comes from the inside out, not from the outside in. Please put more audios or videos on your site. Why not have a podcast?
I just listened to this. I wish my therapist could speak to me the way doctor robert spoke with his client. Maybe I should think about changing therapists. Mine has no sense of humor at all.
I thought you managed the conversation very well and agree that taking the call was the right thing to do. Would you do therapy entirely by telephone doctor? If so, how much would you charge me? I would like some sessions with you, but I live too far away.