Wonderful piece Samantha and unfortunately relatable. I have a question, if you don't mind? If you do, please feel free to ignore me. When you first went, did you open up completely? I went to a few sessions and ended up sugarcoating everything I was feeling and doing. It felt pointless for me to keep going when I wasn't being honest.
Wonderful piece Samantha and unfortunately relatable. I have a question, if you don't mind? If you do, please feel free to ignore me. When you first went, did you open up completely? I went to a few sessions and ended up sugarcoating everything I was feeling and doing. It felt pointless for me to keep going when I wasn't being honest.
I've been seeing my therapist for about 6 months now and I definitely find myself sugarcoating things. Sometimes its because I'm embarrassed or think that I shouldn't feel this way and sometimes its because I just don't want to get into that issue right then. I think my therapist has a good bs detector but she doesn't usually call me on it when I'm sugar coating things and just moves on.
My personal feeling on the issue is that you should try to be honest because your therapist can't help you unless they know what you're going through. However, it's hard to talk to a stranger about personal issues so occasionally there are going to be things that you won't be ready to talk about. You shouldn't beat yourself up over that.
My strategy would be to set a goal for my next session to talk about the fact that I feel the need to sugarcoat everything. Once your therapist knows this is going on, you can work together to explore how to best structure the therapy to help you feel more comfortable or even explore if you need a different therapist. They shouldn't feel offended or scold you for not being honest and if they do then you should definitely go find a new therapist.
Great response, David. Just to echo what you said: if youтАЩre unable to open up to your therapist (or doctor, TBF), theyтАЩre probably not the right person for you. And thatтАЩs ok.
Thanks David, I appreciate your response. I had the same thought - they can't help me unless I'm honest, which is part of the reason I stopped going. That's a sensible recommendation to start with discussing the perceived need to sugarcoat with them.
Yeah thanks for that David, that approach sounds really helpful. There have definitely been times, especially at the beginning, where I felt like I couldn't completely be honest, but it got easier the more I let my guard down and acknowledged that I wasn't going to get what I needed out of the sessions that I was paying so much for. And yeah definitely feeling what Ape Mummy is saying, just like how I felt with that first woman, that could be an indication that they're not someone who *can* help you, and that you should try finding someone else. I hope you're able to find what you're looking for!
Wonderful piece Samantha and unfortunately relatable. I have a question, if you don't mind? If you do, please feel free to ignore me. When you first went, did you open up completely? I went to a few sessions and ended up sugarcoating everything I was feeling and doing. It felt pointless for me to keep going when I wasn't being honest.
I've been seeing my therapist for about 6 months now and I definitely find myself sugarcoating things. Sometimes its because I'm embarrassed or think that I shouldn't feel this way and sometimes its because I just don't want to get into that issue right then. I think my therapist has a good bs detector but she doesn't usually call me on it when I'm sugar coating things and just moves on.
My personal feeling on the issue is that you should try to be honest because your therapist can't help you unless they know what you're going through. However, it's hard to talk to a stranger about personal issues so occasionally there are going to be things that you won't be ready to talk about. You shouldn't beat yourself up over that.
My strategy would be to set a goal for my next session to talk about the fact that I feel the need to sugarcoat everything. Once your therapist knows this is going on, you can work together to explore how to best structure the therapy to help you feel more comfortable or even explore if you need a different therapist. They shouldn't feel offended or scold you for not being honest and if they do then you should definitely go find a new therapist.
Great response, David. Just to echo what you said: if youтАЩre unable to open up to your therapist (or doctor, TBF), theyтАЩre probably not the right person for you. And thatтАЩs ok.
Thanks David, I appreciate your response. I had the same thought - they can't help me unless I'm honest, which is part of the reason I stopped going. That's a sensible recommendation to start with discussing the perceived need to sugarcoat with them.
Yeah thanks for that David, that approach sounds really helpful. There have definitely been times, especially at the beginning, where I felt like I couldn't completely be honest, but it got easier the more I let my guard down and acknowledged that I wasn't going to get what I needed out of the sessions that I was paying so much for. And yeah definitely feeling what Ape Mummy is saying, just like how I felt with that first woman, that could be an indication that they're not someone who *can* help you, and that you should try finding someone else. I hope you're able to find what you're looking for!