I just wanted to let you know that I know EXACTLY what you mean. I don't have any answers, though. I figured that the "watered-down" feeling was the goal--to not have the thing bother me with as much intensity was as good as it was going to get. I still don't know if I figured that right.

I think Argo is correct. The watered-down feeling won't last; you will be reminded eventually that you do need to work on whatever. Your current state of mind is not your permanent state of mind.

I know exactly what you mean!

I also don't have answers though.

I give my journaling on sessions to my T on the next session though so she can pick up patterns and know more about how I felt.

I sometimes reread and spot patterns too.

I find that eventually I'm reminded anyway that I need to work on this and that.

I agree with the others. Feelings about pretty much anything come and go. There are times when they are stronger and times when they wane again. You had an intense session and processed some of it, and the emotions waned for a while. There is nothing wrong with that at all - it is a *good* thing for the intense feelings to recede for a while. Human beings suffer negative health effects from the physiological stress of sustained intense emotions. It just isn't good for us.

Journaling helped me a lot in t. I think sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the ins and outs of the T relationship, but the most powerful growth tends to come when we process things slowly on our own. Growth doesn't occur as a direct result of the relationship - it is the inner changes that come from the processing of the material and therapeutic relationship that give rise to personal growth.

Processing results in change, and I think sometimes emailing can block that progress. Journaling allows things to be expressed and then left alone for a while. Later - perhaps an hour or two or even a few days - you can return to it, re-think it, process it some more and perhaps even have more insights or come to a different understanding yet again. Journaling gives the space for gradual processing that builds upon itself, without an end point or a pause.
On the other hand email sets the understanding of that moment in stone, and requires waiting for a response. It can set that moment of understanding as *the* new reality, and doesn't lend itself as readily to further processing or growth until the other person has responded in some manner.

Sorry, just another thought - I wonder if when emailing you maintain that heightened emotional intensity because it is on 'pause' while waiting for a reply? I can see how that would provide a powerful (but ultimately false) state of connection to your T, for you.
On that other hand, with journaling, maybe you processed it as much as you needed to for that moment in time and so can set aside for now. This is a much healthier way or processing material.

Not being severely upset and/or feeling emotional or disturbed by something doesn't mean there is no issues to work on. I am rarely upset for more than a day or a few about anything and typically don't fall apart but it doesn't mean I have nothing to work on. Actually most productive work I did with t was when I wasn't upset at all and there was nothing bad going on. Last session I had was very productive but I currently don't have any intense negative emotions about anything at all. You can maybe discuss issues with your t even if your feelings aren't intense. IMHO
Thanks, divine.

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I very much agree with Divine. Emotions do not have to be involved in the in order to classify an issue as 'meaningful' or 'valid'.

Equally importantly, everything that evokes an intense emotional response is not necessarily an 'issue'.

I can relate to journaling (or even processing something outside of therapy),and having it no longer feel "valid" in the moment to talk about. This has been an OngoingTzwzo.sation with t in recent sessions. I have been meaning to bring something in to talk about, but I'm worried she will either think it's all still very valid and active in the moment, or she will wonder why I'm bringing it to her if it's not something I'm actively struggling with. She keeps reminding me that anything can be talked about at any time. She says it doesn't have to be something that's a huge issue s at the moment, though those are ok too..

That's growtTh, Rainbow. It's discovering that you have a healthy mechanism by which you can sit with your emotions, let them run their course, and then be able to work on liî no underlying issues. It's discovering that not everything that feels intense is actually something that you have to "do" something about; emotions come and go. If the underlying issue is still there, it is still there to work on even without intense emotiīons. It's discovering that you may not need to contact your therapist in the moment for every strong emotion you feel; you can sit through the emotions on your own now moreso than you once could.