PARIS, Oct 13, 2009 (AFP) - Carla Bruni, the supermodel wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has told a new documentary she is in psychoanalysis but insists on sitting facing her analyst instead of lying on his couch.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

"I had a life that was totally about action, completely outside of psychoanalysis until the age of 28," the 41-year-old told the documentary titled "La Permiere Seance" ("The First Session").

But she began the therapy, which treats mental and emotional disorders by looking at the role of the unconscious mind, "body and soul" when her father died when she was 28.

At her first session she experienced a "vague boredom," she told the documentary to be broadcast on November 7 on French television.

But when she changed analyst she had an "incandescent" experience, she told the documentary to be screened by France 3 channel, whose press service said Bruni has been in analysis for eight years.

Now she refuses to lie down on the analyst's couch.

"It's artificial for me. I feel like I'm in a farce. For the last two years I've been face to face with my analyst. This more civilised situation helps me speak more freely," she said.

But Bruni fans hoping for secrets of the French first lady's life will be disappointed as she reveals no details of what troubles her, instead limiting herself to a very brief description of her first steps in therapy.

The 52-minute documentary features of host of French celebrities who talk briefly about their first encounter with psychoanalysis.

They include the fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, film-maker Claude Chabrol and writer Marie Darrieussecq.

Bruni, who married the twice-divorced Sarkozy last year after a whirlwind romance, last week launched a new website that provides behind-the-scenes glimpses into her glamorous life.