*sigh*

Well, as I mentioned in my other thread, one of the dilemmas that I face in group T is shutting down too easily. When addressing it, I said that I would need to work on saying, "give me a minute" to work through my internal barriers, instead of shutting down completely.

That idea is just SO scary to me....but I know it's something I need to work on.

When I saw T yesterday for my individual session, I told him that when I got home from group, I thought to myself, "What on earth can the group do to help me?" (regarding my dad issues, grief, etc.)....and told him how I ended up having a full blown panic attack and then a total meltdown, bawling my eyes out for what felt like hours....

T asked me what that was about...I said, "My dad"....he said, "What about though?"....And I said, "I don't know.....I don't want to know....and that's my problem".....

It didn't dawn on me until AFTER the session that I DID know. I DID KNOW. But that fear - that internal protective barrier was there - and my automatic response was, "I don't know"....or some other benign statement.....

If I can't even get past those barriers in individual T, how on earth am I going to do it in group T?

Anybody have any suggestions on how you've been able to overcome shutting down - and working through those protective barriers?