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Originally Posted by 502041
I think I have realised that I really don't know what appropriate levels of intimacy are and in therapy I am constantly second guessing myself as to what i should and shouldn't share.
I feel like I am not meant to become dependent on therapy and know I am suspectiable of becoming dependant on people and for some reason in a therapy relationship I feel even more exposed to that and feel more dirty about becoming dependant. I feel I should deal with things myself especially the intimacy parts about my desires and wants. I am ashamed a lot of the time for wanting simple things mainly because I feel people will mock these desires.
Because I don't know what is acceptable e.g. oversharing vs under sharing and knowing what to share and what not to share I become mute and don't share anything or just the tip of the iceberg.
Any tips or guidance of navigating the intimacy in the therapy room?
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It doesn't exactly sound like you're prone to oversharing. Besides which, I don't think there should really be such a thing if you're working with a good therapist and not using a chiefly behavioral modality. It does sound like it would be a really amazing thing for you to look at your feelings and difficulties around intimacy and dependency in therapy, and enlist your therapist's help in exploring those areas. I also struggle with a lot of shame around the possibility of depending on anyone or being vulnerable. Therapy has been an interesting, challenging microcosm of that for me, in some ways that I think will ultimately be very helpful.
I find that there's a lot of intimacy in my current therapy, and that that intimacy doesn't rely on how much I know about my therapist's personal life or how reciprocal I feel the relationship is. It's about the care with which he attends to my vulnerabilities, the way I listen to what he has to say, the way that he pours himself into the space when there's room and resonance to do so. It's an inherently intimate relationship in a very authentic way, though in my case it's been a slow intimacy. It's difficult, and sometimes confusing, and definitely real.