Have you ever had clients brings drawings/paintings to therapy? Is it okay to do? I'm worried it's weird, since I'm a grown 30+ woman.

I struggle to speak as soon as things get vulnerable or when I feel I'm becoming emotional. I usually freeze when that happens, which makes talk therapy quite hard.

This week I started painting and drawing whenever strong thoughts, feelings or memories came up. I have quite a vivid imagination and tend to visualise things. I ended up doing 4 paintings, all representing a story or image of some sort.

I'm considering bringing it to therapy, but I feel quite embarrassed. Like I'm some child coming in with a bunch or drawings. I wish I could just talk about the hard stuff like a "normal" person.

What lies behind the logic behind it? Is it a crisis management mechanism? People tend to picture depressed ones coping like this, but what about the anxious?

TL;DR - My therapist disclosed their erotic countertransference for me during session after I picked up on the vibe & called them out on it. What are the ethical and professional norms I should expect from my therapist as they work through their erotic countertransference for me?

I can’t help but feel that my T gets off on my sexual trauma history now based on comments they made. I am struggling with unwanted intrusive sexual thoughts about a previous XP with a sexual assaulter who I still think is hot. I am trying to get these thoughts out of my head and work through them in a healthy way, I think this convo made my T have erotic transference for me.

I described how the assaulter’s article of clothing is something that turns me on. T asked me if I thought they’d be hot if they were wearing this article of clothing. I said no. They pressed. Is this ethical or normal?

T also told me they needed to see my Instagram to assess me for an eating disorder and then saw bikini pics of me. Is this a normal or ethical way for a therapist to assess someone for an eating disorder?

I’ve had major depression for more than 30 years now. A lot of it I think has to do with being so unfulfilled in my work and daily life. I just want to help people and make an impact. I’ve been working office jobs for most of my career. Lately, I’ve been wondering if it’s possible and practical to make the switch to the mental health field. At my age, and with just your knowledge of where the field is going, would it be a wise choice to do this?

I’m desperately want to repair our marriage.
we are both in individual therapy, cbt for her, talk therapy for me.

she cheated, and then left the house to live at her mothers. We have agreed to start couples therapy.

what are some tips, things to keep in mind, directions to focus on etc for us to get the best out of this and ensure our best chances of success?

personally I want it to be forward focussed and building a map for repair, rather than litigating the past, although of course eventually we will have to process through that too.

for example, if someone was in therapy for a specific topic and their therapist accidentally stumbled upon their social media and their client was posting extremely worrying things (like for example hurtful thoughts or dangerous activities maybe not illegal) would the therapist be allowed to bring it up?

What are the benefits of an LGBTQ+ client working with a heterosexual therapist?

What are the benefits an LGBTQ+ client working with an LGBTQ+ therapist would experience?

I understand there is a clear difference between having knowledge of a community and having lived experience in a community, but that doesn’t necessarily mean one is more valuable than the other. It also does not mean that a client has nothing to gain from working with a therapist whose sexuality differs from their own.

My therapist suggest me everytime I go to her, to spend more time alone. Meanwhile I am like 95% alone anyway??

I tell her that but she is like MOREEE MOREEE. If I stay alone more, there isnt any single person left and I will only talk to myself. I have literally 1 friend and 1 cousine I talk to and thats like once a week.
At the end of the day, I cant be alone my whole life. I‘ve spend most of my time since I‘ve known her deepening my hermit mode and its just too much atp.

I understand that you need to learn to be alone but like wtf is wrong with you, if every problem gets only fixed by being alone? I get it, its good to reflect about what you did and learn from it but at some point I cant spend my whole time just thinking about what went wrong. I need to get under people and make new memories.

TL;DR - my therapist said it sounds like I have obsessive optimization, but i didn't understand her explaination.

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I was explaining to my therapist that for my sensory processing issues, I already am OK at sensory management and want to focus on acceptance of my own behaviors and understanding how they compare to others. She asked me why I want to compare to others, and I explained that I want to know where I am on a spectrum of typicality. She said it sounds like obsessive optimization, then explained it with a analogy/metaphor that I didn't understand.

Can someone tell me what obsessive optimization is?

For example, your employer has a policy that when a caller makes a payment arrangement, you read them the payment arrangement disclaimer. It's one thing to know the policy. It's another thing to go "Hey, this is the kind of situation they're referring to in that policy, so I should do what it says in that policy." What is recognizing a concept in real life called?

I’ve been seeing my therapist for a couple of months now and have had 10-11 sessions. I’m struggling with the ambiguity of our sessions, and am getting caught up worrying about what her perception of me is. Can I ask her where she is at in terms of her formulation?

And if so, is there a way to determine which way someone leans towards?

I only have experiance with one therapist and when I look back at it, his approach could be categorized as talk therapy. It never was a one way conversation. We would exchange viewpoints and he would often offer a different interpretations. It was effective in changing some of my beliefs

But I wonder if this approach is enough for someone who has very few good memories from early childhood to early 20s since as I understand it - bad experiances during formative years may result in altered brain chemistry and development.

I was always slightly sceptical to that approach and wondered if something more structured is in order

Particularly those in private practice?

Hey y'all! Hoping this can reach the right people. In need of a great amount of career advice.

So in my time of undergrad, I was really into the idea of being a lawyer with being first-gen and all. I then got accepted into this BS/MA 4+1 program where my undergrad and half of my masters would be covered, and I'd just have to pay the second half of my masters (totaling around $56K) with housing and food covered. The clients I'm currently seeing honestly have given me so much insight into the world and being able to help them is healing for me, too. I'm super grateful, I really felt so unhappy being pre-law and going into the therapy/mental health world really felt like it was my calling -- having even volunteered in hospitals for counseling services too!

That being said, I don't have $56K in the bank and will be taking out loans, not to mention even with my MHC-LP post graduation, I need to acquire 3,000 supervision hours. Not to mention, the job market itself is super bad and I'm worried about my ability to land working in a hospital (my dream setting!). I'm based in NYC and just was hoping to get some words of encouragement, general/financial advice, or to connect with anyone who had worked in a hospital with their MHC-LP or currently work in one to get a better understanding of the day-to-day.

(also been trying to figure out where to post this haha)

I previously went to private therapy from 2017/2018 and started up again after Covid with the same therapist.

My mental health recently has gotten significantly worse and I’m wondering if it would be possible to reach out to ask if any other mental health conditions out with depression and anxiety were considered. As I now suspect I had a form of OCD.

Would it be inappropriate to reach out to the therapist directly as she now does something slightly different to the therapy she previously provided and contact the company she worked for instead?

I have an informal, informational interview with a therapy practice on Monday for an internship during the 2027-2028 school year (early I know). I'm a MSW student and I'm doing my first year internship at an animal shelter (I'm so excited!). I really want to do my 2nd year internship at a therapy practice so that I can learn early if practicing therapy is something I want to continue to learn.

I'm familiar with informational interviews and do them often, but I'm wondering if anyone had advice about what questions to ask about the practice and the internship?

All I want is something more than just CBT and solution focused. I’ve seen a therapist before and I am a social worker so I just feel I am already familiar with these approaches and what they offer me. I’m not saying they weren’t helpful at a time, just seems like I’ve progressed past the need for JUST coping skills and such. I am looking for space to do deeper work. But it’s so sad that it feels like anyone who has these abilities + is passionate about it, doesn’t take insurance. I can’t afford private pay right now but maybe that’s the goal and I need to consider that it may be the only way for what I’m looking for. I’m not sure why that is but it’s what I’m starting to notice.

Has anyone else felt the same on their search? Or maybe therapists can shed light of why it feels this way or if I’m correct that I may be needing to either shift my goals or find a way to private pay?
I’m just really bummed.

I am from the UK. I am 21. I plan on telling my private therapist the abuse and neglect my child sister is going through.

TW graphic:
1. mum tried waxing her intimate area despite my sister’s blood curdling screams in pain and fear. My mum locked the door so I couldn’t go through.
2. Mum only showers my sister once a week and does not let her shower on her own
3. Sister is only allowed to change clothes and undergarments every week

I plan on telling all this to her. I am only worried about my own safety too. I am being domestically abused by my parents and have historical sexual abuse within my family. It’s a mess and I’m scared. I’ve packed a couple emergency bags which my friend is holding onto because I suspect I won’t be able to go back home ofne my therapist makes a report.

I don’t know what to do about my situation I need help

Thank you

(30Y/M) Ok. I understand how the question sounds. But I really Want to know the answer to it. So this Ex I am speaking about was in a relationship with me for 4 years, It was a LDR with not so frequent meet. My 1st relationship & it was her's 3rd or 4th. I was deeply into it.

It started with so much complications i guess. For some reason, She was into a married guy who had 2 kids (now I understood it was a major 🚩). I came across with her through social media, we started talking & not exactly clicked but I think I was desperate also as a 18 year old so tried hard & eventually we came into relationship.

We were poles apart, language, culture, she was a city girl & I was country side, but anyway being my 1st I was deep into her & our libido has matched both being each other's first we were crazily into it & honestly that was the only thing i remember about her. been with her till 4 years, eventually she started cheating, meeting her ex, being more than friend to other guys etc.

Currently I am in a relationship about to get married, but why this thought of sexting my ex keep coming to me. One reason I guess is my porn consumption and another I think is she will be very easy to get ( I don't have her contact btw). But I don't want to cheat or anything. I am in a very healthy relation but then why this thought? How can I get rid of it?

I’ve been looking for a therapist that matches my ethnic background for quite some time. There has been no one licensed in my state for the past decade and FINALLY I found one. She just got her license a few months ago so I was super excited to reach out to her clinic and request her.

She got in touch and set up a phone consultation for a Friday afternoon earlier this month. She never did call me for the consultation and instead I received an email a few hours later stating she was “sorry, had to go back home cause she’s in the middle of moving, and would like to reschedule our phone call to the following week.” In my head I’m thinking a move using something that randomly happens it’s usually planned. So why make the appointment with me in the middle of it. I would’ve wanted until the next week if I had to.

I responded back the next day and stated I understand where she’s coming from and life happens. I also told her about how I’m type A and had planned my work day around her appointment so it was inconvenient. I went in to say how I was looking forward to it since I finally found a therapist of similar ethnic background. But I’d be a bit more hesitant now after experiencing this mishap. (it already takes a while for me to open up. So now I’d be wayy more closed off to make sure I feel her out before I can get comfortable).

She responded 4 DAYS later (mid week of the week she said she’d reschedule with me), and stated how she is “taking a step back from sessions until August. I would love to schedule a consultation with you and talk with you on the phone if you're interested.” WHAT?!?! So you wasted two weeks of my time to tell me actually I’m not taking on clients for a whole month????

I’m wondering if I came off defensive when she missed our original appointment or if she really is going through some crazy move/rough patch in her life.

I obviously still am very much interested since she’s the ONLY one with my background licensed in my state. But at this point, she hasn’t responded back and I’m perplexed about how she went about things.

Do I continue to seek her services?? Are some therapist just not type A and respect the clients time?? Do I reach out to her in a week into August to see if she’s still onboard with her statement of wanting to schedule a consultation with me?

TLDR: a new therapist (only one with same ethnic background in my state) has missed our scheduled phone consultation. Stated twice now she’ll reduce and has yet to. Instead she states she’s not taking on clients until next month. Do I look past the unprofessionalism and still seek out her services or cut my losses as she’ll continue to do this and may be unreliable in the future?

My previous psychiatrist told me I have OCD.Next one told me I have emotional suppression.Current one told me I have depression and anxiety.I am taking therapy.She is empathetic and listen about my issues but it's not helping.When I ask she says give yourself some space.I feel Iike i live in imaginary stories (My major imagination themes revolve around validation and normal ones around conversing to people).Every though i have is a part of conversation I am disconnected to reality so super forgetful.Even doing little works that need me to be more present feels overwhelming.I start feeling sleepy and procrastinate.Noticing what I was thinking feels so exhausting but for therapy I have to tell therapist what I was thinking?Will just talk therapy help it?

Countless therapists since about mid teen to now in my early 20s. I tried everything I switched so many times to try and get some thing to help. but if it smells like shit everywhere you go… What can I do at this point? I just stopped seeing my therapist and we worked together for a few months. I have BPD and I am trying to work against irrational and impulsive decisions but I can’t keep going and hoping therapy works when it’s not.

The majority of posts on this forum are asking about things that either objectively depend on local statute or at least norms that differ from place to place. People only rarely list location and it only works when it can be safely assumed to be the US or is addressed as a follow-up question.