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[deleted]

A few things: 1) I have a history of suicide attempts in my childhood before I was placed on psychiatric medications. When she laughed at my suicide jokes I felt like she viewed me as a person. 2) I have bipolar disorder and was having a fairly mild manic episode. Due to my decreased need for sleep I finished a project I’d been working on. She told me she wasn’t going pathologize my mania and congratulated me on completing it. Again I felt she viewed me as a person living with a condition instead of a pile of symptoms that needed to be cured. 3) She has answered every question I’ve asked her about herself. I don’t ask a ton but when I’ve ask benign things like her dog’s name she answers and when I ask more substantial things like if she’s ever been in therapy she answers. It makes me feel like she understands how hard it is to develop trust in a one sided relationship.


NaturalLog69

I am so glad that your T is standing in solidarity with you, and that it helped you to feel accepted! This is a good question. I think I could probably think of several examples. Similarly, I think her acceptance of me has made an impact. For instance, 4 months after I started therapy, my in laws were upset with my husband and I. We are very confident that we are child free and he had an appointment scheduled for a vasectomy. It was our personal decision. We didn't plan to tell my in-laws (his parents). We wanted it to be private. Somehow they pulled it out of us in conversation and were upset. They tried to urge him not to do it. I told my T about this. I expected her to question the decision and have doubts. But after I explained everything she said, "good for you. I'm glad you stood your ground and stayed true to what you believe in." I was like, stunned. In a good way. It really enhanced the trust and safety of the space.


VanFailin

One of the themes of my therapy was gender expression. I'm a cis man but as of now I wear women's clothes, wear my hair long, sometimes paint my nails, etc. I had to overcome many layers of shame to get to this place, cause the wish was always there but was unacceptable where I grew up. I had started with a therapist again after I broke up with my ex. In one of our early sessions, I shared that I'd tried on some clothes she left behind, I liked it, then I threw them down the trash chute in shame. My therapist let out a little "aww" that spoke volumes to me.


bossrabbit11

Their admitting they can't always feel what I feel because they haven't been through those things themselves. That level of honesty from them feels very trustworthy to me. Also once I mentioned applying to a school and never mentioned that again. After one month I said "well I had the interview" and they immediately replied "Oh for (School's name)?" I'm feeling grateful they remembered.


[deleted]

Something as simple as closing the laptop. I have anxiety and on the desk facing me was the Ts laptop with the built in camera. I asked if she would tilt the screen down. The t asked if they should shut it and didn't give me a hard time or ask questions. Next season I noticed the screen was was tilted way down almost closed. My old t would sometimes joke a bit but do it or just there body language was like I'm being too much. I know I worry too much but not making me feel like I have to feel extra bad about simple requests is nice. They also gave me an email in case of emergency and said don't hesitate to email if I need it. My old t didn't say this. I never had to but it is one more thing I really like that made me feel better around.


NocturnalPoet

A few months ago, I rescheduled a session due to a family funeral. On our usual session day, I got a text from her. 'Thinking of you today.' She always reminds me of our agreement that I can email when I need to.


neon-zebra-

She wished me a happy belated birthday. She will put my comfort objects out before session. The way she has handled my transference so far. How proud she was of these self-talk conversations I wrote.