Tigergirl - I could have written your post!!

My current T is the first person that I've ever felt really listened to me and validated me. Even after 4 years, it's still hard to share with her. It's like I have this filter between my brain and mouth and everything I say has to pass through that filter to decide if what I'm saying is important enough, makes sense, is okay to share...etc.

I think, for me, the only thing that has helped is just taking the risk of sharing. I started out with small things with friends, and I'm still very careful about sharing. Every time I took a tiny risk and shared something, and felt listened to and validated, it made it easier to take a bigger risk. With my T, I often check with her to make sure that she understands what I'm saying. Also, when I'm being hesitant about sharing, sometimes, I'll just take a deep breath and blurt it out (really hard to do!!) and sometimes I will remind myself that she's always listened to me so far and I can trust her to continue to do so. I think, really, it's just been a lot of practice to get to this point.