The Rules of the Therapy Game with Dr. Dana Satir, CEDS
How do you do therapy? Are there “rules”? What are they?
Questions most of us have probably never considered before we start therapy. When we look at how the therapeutic relationship of therapy works, we have to consider the foundation of therapy, and what the deeper meaning is behind it.
In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Dana Satir. We are breaking down the what’s and why’s of therapy, and sharing some metaphors along the way.
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Dr. Satir is a clinical psychologist who has been practicing in the eating disorders field for over twenty years. She received her doctorate from Boston University and completed her internship at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. Her scholarship has been focused on the treatment relationship, specifically the therapist's experiences, and the psychoanalytic treatment of eating disorders. She has received grant funding from the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) and Children's Hospital Colorado, and she was awarded an early career fellowship from APsaA in 2013. Dr. Satir teaches courses on eating disorders and psychotherapy at the University of Denver and TZK webinars, hosts study groups, and provides case consultations with licensed clinicians. She maintains a psychoanalytic private practice in Boulder County, Colorado, where she primarily works with individuals who have experienced early developmental trauma and have a history of eating disorder symptoms as well as young adults in transition.
Let’s first acknowledge that there is no fixed framework for the therapeutic relationship. We know that each person's experience is unique. How close we get to the edges of this metaphorical frame varies from person to person and might change over time. But ultimately, most sessions follow a set of “rules”.
In this episode, we are diving into:
The metaphor of therapy as a game, and the importance of a shared understanding of the "rules" or framework for effective engagement.
Challenges that therapists face in navigating treatment
The asymmetry in the therapist-patient relationship
Therapy-as-a-living-lab metaphor: the real-time exploration of patient-therapist dynamics and the opportunity for feedback and repair.
The potential impact of therapists sharing personal information
The importance of therapists taking care of themselves and modeling self-care
The opportunity for growth when facing challenging moments
How challenges are part of the therapeutic process
How conflict and resolution are necessary for therapeutic work
Tweetable Quotes
"The therapists that are working with patients with eating disorders are committed, deeply committed. And there's sort of an overarching idea of, we're in this together." - Dana Satir
"If we think about therapy as a game, it's playful, If we can't play in therapy, then I think that that's something that we ought to talk about because there is some sort of playfulness that is appropriate to have." - Rachelle Heinemann
"In therapy, the therapist doesn't share about their personal life, and the person in therapy shares everything about their life." - Rachelle Heinemann
“This is almost the hallmark of an eating disorder is that we use an eating disorder to communicate." - Rachelle Heinemann
"If it feels like holding that mystery is so anxiety-provoking, maybe we talk about what it would be like to know part of that." - Dana Satir
Resources
Dana Satir's Website - http://www.drdanasatir.com/
Related Episodes
Episode 91. How to Handle the Hardest Situations (Clinician Series)
Episode 74. The Best Advice You’ll Ever Get
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Hey there! I’m Rachelle, the host of the Understanding Disordered Eating Podcast. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I work with clients to make sense of life’s messy emotional experiences.
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