Yes, I have experienced that with my therapist! I can say anything at all in therapy. She doesn't judge or lash out. She would never lash out. She points out how much I judge myself and how I hold myself back. She doesn't say that to judge, but to 1) let me know that she wishes good things for me, for life to feel good, and 2) to help me see what I do, and that my discomfort comes from within. It is of course the judgments and criticisms I heard growing up and which aren't helpful or even true, yet I hang onto them. .... Just writing this, I'm thinking 'why do I hang onto them?' and 'what would it be like if I didn't hold onto them?' -- next therapy session!