Clients‟ experience of counselling within a narrative framework

5.5.4 Overcontained-overfree
This polarity appears to be an internal state of agitation that may affect the physical body and the 
external world as racing thoughts affect judgements and physical movement. It could be 
described as emotional hyperventilating, a kind of suffocating of the self and one‟s own feelings. 
It is like the chaos and confusion I felt following trauma when I did not know how to contain or 
find freedom from my experiences. Hiccups could be the physiological metaphor for 
overcontained in that with hiccups a person seems to be unable to control their body and the 
overcontained client does not seem to have control of their feeling states. However, unlike 

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uncontained where there is no movement or process, overcontained does have movement within 
but it is as if it is not owned or does not belong to the client in that it appears to be out of his/her 
control. The overcontained client is full of other people‟s thoughts and feelings rather than their 
own. The movement caused by this then is an attempt to get rid of the unwanted (Steiner 1993) 
thoughts and feelings while at the same time feeling restrained from doing this. Like hiccups 
which is caused by the involuntary contraction of the diaphragm while the glottis is 
spasmodically closed, it is as if the psyche contracts in the hope of expelling what does not 
belong to it while the insecure self spasmodically shuts itself down in deference to others‟ 
perceptions. The „compliant‟ client who constantly tries to please everyone (like Beauty) 
including the counsellor might feel „at home‟ in this category.
Overfree is the panic or hysteria which causes a rush of thoughts or feelings exhibited in 
movement which cannot settle. Such rushing around, may be destructive as it closes down the 
possibility of rational thought or action. There is a sense of feeling beyond help in the chaos of 
such hyperactivity (like the Beast who alone can only be wild). Perhaps obsessive compulsive 
disorders could be seen as a state where the client is almost completely taken over by this 
polarity as the client‟s attention seems solely taken up with the compulsive activity that relegates 
the underlying affect beyond reach. If these states can be brought into awareness and 
experienced within the safe environment provided by the counsellor, then the individual may 
find the freedom which enables these aspects of him/herself to begin the process of change. 
This category appears in the journals as an internal place which appears to be full of other 
people‟s opinions and thoughts rather than those of the client. It also emerges as confusion as if 

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there is a kind of internal rushing around within a chaotic part of the self. An extract of a journal 
entry from the pilot study demonstrates how this construct came to be understood: 
Extract 11. Entry from a pilot study journal to show overfree 
Line.1
afraid 
Line 2.
swallowed up 
Line 3.
selective deafness! 
Line 4.
“close call” 
Line 5.
survived 
Live 6.
phew! 
Line 7.
Feel like I‟m flying by the seat of my pants! 
Line 8.
Got away with it and very pleased with my avoidance. 
Line 9.
Feel got at 
Line 10.
abandoned 
Line 11.
alone 
Line 12.
irritated / annoyed 
Line 13.
frustrated 
In the pilot study analysis constructs were designated to each line for example; seeing a fight 
between containment-freedom in lines 4,5,6 and 8; uncontained-unfree in lines 2 and 3 where the 
client seems unable to move. However since spending more time on the interpretation of the text 
in the main study this whole section would now be put into the category of overcontained-
overfree. There seems to be a sense of repetitive internal movements through the whole section, 
as if the participant is unable to be still. There are several words that suggest movement 
including, swallowed, survived, flying, got away, avoidance, irritated and frustrated. It is as if 
she is „flying by the seat of her pants‟ through the whole extract and cannot find a place where 
she can settle. There may also be links to the idea that she has „swallowed up‟ her feelings as if 
her “consciousness had simply withdrawn from contents that were too painful” (Jung 1969: 146) 
for her. In this way she is unable to let the painful parts of herself exist yet neither can such parts 

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be got rid of. They are experienced in forms of repetitive movement which seem to be brought 
into awareness during the session and the journal entry.