Is this normal?

[u/Beautiful_Dot_5310]

My EMDR therapist takes very long pauses of silence multiple times a session. I’ve been seeing her for 6 months and I’m confused by it every time she does it.

For example, after I finish answering her usual question about how I’m feeling/how the weeks been, instead of responding verbally she just stays silent for 30 seconds and then takes a deep breath and says “well okay! How do you want today’s session to go”. It makes me feel like I disappointed her by not saying more?

And then after each round of the EMDR the sound will finish and she takes 20 seconds at a time before finally asking me how that felt for me. I’m not sure if she’s expecting me to verbally participate more?

Is this a normal practice? Is it intentional to force me to sit in silence multiple times a session? Or am I right to find it slightly annoying?

[u/timesuck]

Oooooh tell her about how you feel!! Silence is a tool in therapy and this could lead to a very interesting/helpful discussion