I pulled this from another thread (thanks, Sunny ) : One thing that works for me, when I find myself wanting to retreat and pull away from T or not be open, is I think to myself "how would T behave if he were in this situation?" I know he would be open, forthcoming, non-judgmental, not defensive, curious, and eager to understand. So when I am talking to him and I find myself starting to retreat I try instead to be like he would be. I have had great results with this. Sometimes I have impressed myself so much that I leave therapy thinking, I can't believe I did that! This helps me in interactions with other people outside of therapy too.

This made me think about how much I do this. I do it a lot when my H or my kids are upset...I literally try to channel T and see and hear them the way he sees and hears me. I love being able to give that to them...just to be able to listen non-judgmentally, and let them be who they are and feel what they need to feel.

And T has made me much more comfortable with feelings...I try to help my kids name their feelings now, because T has taught me to do that with me.

I know T values authenticity, and I know I've learned that from him, and I try to remember T and his authenticity when I want to hide or only show a certain side of myself.

It made me curious...do other people have certain behaviors that they've learned from their therapist that they consciously apply to other relationships in their lives???