This is so it for me, too. The more I share feelings that I think are "embarrassing" (whatever they are), the more I realize that my feelings are OK (whatever they are). I come from a family where my feelings were never validated, so I became ashamed of everything. Now by sharing things that are "embarrassing" with my therpaist and seeing her nonjudgmental response, I'm able to do this more with others in my life. And by "embarrassing," sometimes these are hardly things that are such, they just feel bigger when they're inside of me.

About the missing part, my therapist went on vacation about 6 weeks ago. I missed her a lot. I told her so and I (the child) was hurt when she didn't say "me, too" and I thought that I shouldn't have told her. Then we talked about it and she said that she was away and on vacation having fun and she didn't even miss her mom (she takes care of her). She said it was natural for me to miss her; she's a regular part of my life and a source of support and comfort. She also said that one week when I cancelled our appt she did miss me at that time as it felt odd not seeing me. Of course I'm sure that her missing me were different feelings than I have. I've really found that any feelings that I'm having, particularly those about which I'm uneasy, it's best to share with her--I'm scared before I do, but then it feels good once I have.