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Dogs may be our best friends,
but cats are our best psychotherapists.
--Overheard at a party
Dr. Lady and Dr. Max have for over two years been practicing KinAesthetic Therapy together. They feel that this is a good time to review their professional and feline relationships in terms of their different KinAesthetic Therapeutic modalities.
KinAesthetic Therapy (K.A.T.) is an integrated mode of psychological and sociological self-exploration different from many other therapeutic modalities in that the emphasis of all therapy sessions is on the practitioner rather than the client. There is a great deal of physical contact, stroking, grooming, and massage, but again, directed toward the therapist not the client.
Dr. Lady follows the strict Manx tradition of KinAesthetic Therapy, which primarily deals with issues of rejection and control. Again, the emphasis is on the practitioner, who models rejection to the client to prepare him for rejection outside of the controlled therapeutic environment. She also models controlling behavior so that the client must give up his own delusions of control.
Dr. Max practices in the more exuberant Maine coon tradition of KinAesthetic Therapy. His tradition deals primarily with issues of being comfortable in one’s own body, with special attention to security, food, rest, and massage—again, for the practitioner not for the client.
With the differing strategies of their therapeutic modalities, Drs. Lady and Max find it especially rewarding for themselves to work together in consultations. Again, the emphasis is distinctly upon the practitioner not the client. The distinctive emphasis on the practitioner in KinAesthetic Therapy extends even to the use of psycho-active pharmaceuticals, such as Nepeta cataria, which are administered not to the client but to the practitioner.
After
more
than two years of professional affiliation, Dr. Lady remarked, “My ongoing
professional relationship with Dr. Max convinces me that to some few cats God
granted perfection. To the others, he granted tails.” Dr. Max, typically, had
his mouth full and was unable to respond.
You can meet the psitta-therapist with whom the KATS practice. And you can, of course, keep your feet dry and your heart full of noble thoughts, especially the noble thought of forgiveness for me. It is, after all, the holiday season, and I have just finished reviewing a depressing film and needed to cheer myself (and, I hope, you) up.