Do you or have you ever “acted out” in order to get attention from T? Aka doing something self-destructive, self-harming, risky behaviors, etc etc. Or having an attitude with them in session, being difficult, saying things you know will get a rise out of them, etc..?

Sometimes I do this, sometimes consciously, but usually subconsciously. I just know I want/need attention, and for some reason that’s the way I often go about it, although I’m trying to change that. I did this a couple of weeks ago, and T told me that I basically threw an adult version of a temper tantrum and that wasn’t going to get me what I wanted from her, because she is not going to give those behaviors much attention. But, at the same time, I feel like I got a little of what I wanted, because she did kind of give me the attention I wanted here...basically the firmness. I do better with Ts are firm with me, and I’m new to this T, and looking back, I guess I wanted to kind of like push/test her to see if she could be firm with me like my last T was...she delivered...

Curious to see if others have similar experiences...