Quote:
Originally Posted by rainbow8
I'm not sure if the title makes sense but I know others experience this too. It was an intense session dealing with difficult stuff I want to work more on. After posting on here and journaling, I don't feel the intensity as much. One part is starting to think "maybe that stuff doesn't bother as much as it did Tuesday at my session. Maybe I don't need to work on it after all."
However, I DO want and need to work on it. So, how do I, or you, prevent the new, watered down feelings from taking over, thus minimizing the problem? Maybe I'm imagining this as a problem, but I see it as a kind of loophole, but not for my benefit. Does anyone have a clue what I mean? I may be complicating a simple question!
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Your situation happens to me frequently as I journal most every day. By the time I've put it all down on paper, the intensity has subsided. It's quite frustrating to me, bc like you, I feel I still need to work on the issue in therapy w/my T.
My T told me once that it's okay if I don't feel so emotional about what I journaled; to bring what I wrote to therapy and read it so s/he can hear the words behind the emotions and get a sense of how my mind was working at the time. (Yup,
I have to read what I journal out loud
). The first time I read what I'd journaled, I was a bit nervous, but now I understand what my T was wanting. I read the words as I wrote them, with all of the emotion and intensity I felt when I was feeling the need to journal in the first place.
Your decision, of course, but maybe try not to second guess yourself...? If you were feeling intensely about something, it's an issue that needs attention. I think it's still good to bring what was bothering/upsetting you to therapy and try to explain what you were feeling at the time you journaled. Once I start telling T (I don't always take my journal in) what was going on at the time, more often than not we find lots of helpful stuff that needed to be verbalized.
I don't think you're complicating a simple question.
