Quote:
Originally Posted by purplemystery
Does your T ever seem to downplay what you say, or write off something that you think is an issue? I think she believes what I'm saying, but she does try to normalize things a lot. I'm afraid that we have different ideas about what my goals should be.
Has anyone else had a similar experience with their T?
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Hmm. I don't think I've experienced this at all, but I've heard others talk about this.
Normalizing things, while intended to help, sounds dismissive to me. It doesn't sound like the T is minimizing per se, but her approach makes it seem this way. Hopefully when you talk to her, she will understand where you're coming from.
I do want to mention that I've experienced the opposite-I've minimized my experiences, while my T pointed out that the events were traumatic or much more difficult than I portrayed them to be.
Actually, the very concept of normalizing makes it similar to invalidation. You're struggling with something, and to be told, "everyone does it", just doesn't provide the validation of the difficulty of your experience.
Psychotherapy is such an art!