Posted by mair on February 24, 2005, at 21:30:53
In reply to Great Session....FINALLY, posted by JLynn on February 24, 2005, at 20:46:11
I think it's great you were able to strike a deal with her about bringing stuff up. My T has told me that controlling the pace of therapy is pretty important so your T probably needed you to tell her to push more. I know that at some point I had to have that conversation with my T - not so much about when I bring things up, but that maybe she needed to start pushing me to talk about things that were uncomfortable. I probably could have gone for years bouncing from one safe topic to another without ever accomplishing anything. I really needed to be nudged. Now I seem to gravitate to all of the hardest topics, without her needing to direct me at all.
When I first started seeing my T, I went once a week and she seemed really booked, so even when i felt at my worst, I didn't think I could ask to see her more frequently. The idea of going twice a week was hers, and it really surprised me. I just didn't think she had that kind of flexibility. If I felt I needed to see her even more frequently, I'm pretty sure it would be up to me to ask for it. That is part of therapy after all - learning how to ask for the things we need.
I really think it's ok for you to ask her about this. It's taken me years to be more attuned to what I need and to find ways to get it, and I'm still pretty awful about asking her for anything. The more proactive you can be about your own treatment, the better.
poster:mair
thread:462946
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050218/msgs/462968.html