"In my opinion, you're on my ***": psychotherapists about their work and patients

A psychiatrist and photographer from New York, Sebastian Zimmermann, took portraits of psychotherapists in their workrooms — where clients share their experiences, memories and fears.

Martin Bergmann

"I have been working as a psychoanalyst for more than fifty years and I am still amazed that every patient tells something new. It's as if you're living not one life, but countless: you've made a deal with death and you're leading her by the nose."

Stephen J. Lee

"One of the most useful interpretations I've ever given to my patients is, 'I think you're f*** me.' I say this respectfully, but firmly. And it happens that patients agree, and we begin to understand how they deceive themselves."

Maria Taveras

"I am engaged in Jungian psychotherapy, this method has helped to reveal my own creative abilities. Once in a dream, a voice ordered me to do modeling and embody the images that were spinning in my head. I had never worked with clay before, but I listened to my subconscious and still continue to create."

Kirkland C. Voucher

"African art reflects a part of my personality, although some of these paintings may bother. I imagine the reaction of some black patient who will look at them and say: "We need to get out of here. This dude is clearly sticking out his origin, I'd rather find myself a white psychoanalyst.""

Michael Eigen

"There are patients who cling to various details of my office. One woman said she felt like she was inside her own psychopathic mother here. Another found fault with the chair, saying that if I can't take care of the chair, how can I take care of it."

Henry Zvi Lothain

"I had a 69-year-old patient who came into the room, pointed at chrysanthemums and asked: "Where did you get these wonderful daisies?" I told her they were chrysanthemums, but she kept insisting. We have been working on this provocative behavior with her for many years."

Bertram H. Rosen

"My office is filled with memories. When I started my internship in 1964, I worked with young people trying to avoid serving in Vietnam. And in the early 1970s, women who wanted to have an abortion were sent to me: in order to get permission, they had to prove suicidal tendencies."

Samira Nasereddin

"Every item here is not random. I especially like the mobile — it gives a sense of space, brings movement, air and light into the room. He's playful and active, but not pushy. He has quiet and soft movements, like waves or clouds."

William L. Salton

"I once worked with a boy whose eyes lit up as soon as he saw my castle: he was fond of knights himself. Playing with the knights and the king, the boy told what they were really doing in the castle towers in secret from everyone."