Maybe. It's always illuminating when I hear how others perceive me. I only see T every couple of weeks, and when I do, I am so happy to see him--I think it makes me "bubblier" or at least contributes to a good mood.

We spent about half the session on various "stuff", like how I'm quitting my job, starting school, going to a brand new gang of colleagues, leaving old relationships behind, my house that is self-destructing and needs endless repairs, etc. It was a good context to be bubbly in. Then we spent a full 45 minutes on the events from my youth that we have been skirting for a number of sessions now: 1 step forward, 1/2 step back. But we stuck with it for this extended period this time and made a lot of progress. I am thinking now how that was possible, and I think it was because I had a lot of ego strength going into the conversation. I was in a great mood, very positive and "bursting" with energy, having great interaction with T and feeling "understood", comfortable, and supported. All this made it easier to start going deeper, to tell the story I am having a hard time getting out and sticking with, to let out feelings hidden away for years. I have often heard that sometimes clients are too unstable or don't have enough ego strength to do hard work in therapy (e.g. trauma work). They have to work on establishing stability and strength before they can do the hard stuff. This is supportive therapy. Now I really understand that. The work we are embarking on now, I could not have done a couple of years ago, when I was a mess. My ability to make progress on this topic now helps me see that things are a lot better for me now than a few years ago. I am much stronger. So I really see the wisdom in not attempting too much when we don't have the strength, are too fragile, or don't have enough support. If we work to build those things first, then the difficult things become more doable.