Yes, and yes. I can totally relate, and I have talked to T about it. When I wanted to start bringing up some topics that were difficult for me, first, I wrote out just the topics, in bullet points. Then, I told my t that I have things I want to talk about, but I can't seem to bring them up and need her help. She had me just read my bullet list, so she'd have some idea of what the topics were. It took me several sessions to even get through that lsit of maybe 5 things.

Once I got through the list, she would ask me about the topics...if I started to struggle or shut down, she'd ask me to just tell her one true thing about that topic. Didn't matter what, just something to get started talking. Then, she'd ask me to tell her more, etc. Once, my one true thing was simply "it sucks." My T agreed and asked me to elaborate. If I've managed to avoid a topic all session, she'll wait until the last 15 minutes or so, and then ask me if I can talk about it for just 5 minutes. That way, it's always there, being talked about, just in very small bites.

The other thing my T does is continually reassure me that it's okay for me to talk about the difficult things.