I also think it's wonderful and inspiring that you're pursuing your dream, that you want to help people, and that you're brave enough (and curious and intelligent enough) to ask for feedback here on this.

I think it just varies so much from person to person... some people may not even notice, some will notice and be comfortable asking about it, some won't.

For me, personally (and remembering that this is just me!) - I already have SUCH a hard time with therapy, such a hard time being open about stuff, and such a hard time not worrying about my Ts reactions to me and how things I say might affect him or our relationship... I think that if I noticed early on (and I truly might not) - it would be a distraction from therapy.

What I mean is - I'm not really brave/pushy enough to come out and say, "hey there T, what's up with those scars?" Heck, even something less big and personal feels hard to ask for me, and that feels SO PERSONAL, there's no way I'd ask a T that I didn't know well.

That means that if I noticed, I'd probably spend alot of time worrying about things like whether or not my guess that it was SI was correct, whether or not the T was truly better (or still at risk), whether I could share my darkest stuff with them - or if those things would trigger them to go SI more...

I think with a different, more confident client who could bring these things up - it might be ok, because you could talk about them, and assure them that you can handle their stuff. But for someone like me, it would really not be helpful to my therapy, I think.

I also think though that, as others said, it's a disclosure thing. Would you disclose past traumas to a brand new client on their first visit? Probably not, I assume. So maybe think of it like that?

Good luck in your studies!