Hi objtrbit, no I'm not offended. I have never done CBT. It does not appeal to me (again, probably because of my overly rational and analytic nature--I need feeling work in therapy), so I doubt anything you might have said about CBT would have offended me. It holds no place in my heart, although I understand that it is extemely helpful for some people. I wonder why you would think I would be offended by a rant you wrote about CBT? Have I said something to make you think I am a CBT champion? My therapy is eclectic, largely humanistic. But there is some family systems and a measure of what some would consider psychodynamic. Sometimes people talk about therapy as if there is just psychodynamic and CBT so I wonder if you thought since I didn't do analytic work, I must do CBT? The psychodynamic/CBT dichotomy seems to leave no place for other types of therapy. I know I am not the only one here who has a humanistic T, so it's not that uncommon....

If I catch myself doing it in therapy, I try to make myself stop, rather than having someone break it down (sounds so harsh!). I know the route to healing for me lies with feeling; doing too much intellectualizing in therapy would not bring me closer to healing. I would rather say nothing in therapy than intellectualize, so sometimes if I catch myself falling back into analytic mode, I try to slow it down and stop speaking. That is more genuine for me. My T is very comfortable with silence and will wait for me. A lot of cool things can happen during silence. It is a time for me to listen deep within myself.

This rings true for me also! I have reclaimed a lot of energy in my life by learning to not hold in all my feelings (for me it was not just bad feelings, but good feelings too). I owe this to therapy. I am still a neophyte at this, but I have found that all that energy that I put into holding my feelings back and stuffing them deep inside can be freed up by stopping keeping such a tight hold on everything. Because I don't always keep such a tight rein on myself now, I have all this extra energy to do positive things in my life. I think this release and reclaiming of energy in my life may be the most important and tangible benefit of therapy for me so far. In certain moments, it feels to me the way you feel after you take your ski boots off after a day on the slopes--you just feel so light on your feet.

I agree with your mentor. For me too the emotional work is the most important. Coupled with insight, it can be even more powerful. For me a challenge is to bring a new way of being I experience in therapy out into the light of day. Objtrbit, it sounds like your mentor is really a good fit for you. And it sounds like you're really making some great strides. Hope that continues for you.