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Old Aug 03, 2019, 05:24 AM
ArtleyWilkins ArtleyWilkins is offline
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Member Since: Oct 2018
Location: USA
Posts: 2,818
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemoncake View Post


Personally I don't think he's handling it well. "so did you like it?"
The therapist didn't ask "so did you like it?" The OP said she felt like the therapist's tone was AS IF he was saying "so did you like it?"

OP: I don't think your therapist's approach is inappropriate. It sounds like you were expecting a more emotional response to your retelling of these incidents, but therapists generally are very careful to maintain a very objective reaction to what we tell them so as to not skew our own emotions and thoughts. If they give too much respond, oddly enough, that can have the effect of stopping our communication.

I've told my therapists some pretty horrific incidents and they've largely responded very much as you describe. They do tend to ask questions like "how did you feel"? "What were you thinking in that moment?" "When you remember what happened, how do you feel about it now?" They are trying to get us to verbalize what we are experiencing internally.

It is also not unusual for a child to have actually had positive feelings about what they were experiencing at the time which seems paradoxical, but that's the complexity of sexual trauma and why we are sometimes left with so much shame and guilt about what we experienced. So even if a therapist did ask if we enjoyed it at the time, that isn't a judgment on us; it is important information about our trauma. I understand how jolting it can be to be asked that kind of question (although it doesn't sound like he asked it outright). I was asked those kinds of questions and as hard as they were to hear, it was important to discuss.

You say several times things like "doesn't he already know how I am feeling?" "Why should I even have to tell him; he should already know?" Again, what is obvious in our internal experience may not be obvious to the person we are relaying our experience to, even a therapist. We assume our internal experience is universal, but in actuality, it isn't. It could very well be that your internal experience is quite different than someone else who went through a very similar trauma. A therapist can't assume your feelings; all he can do is inquire. I would go as far as to say it is dangerous for a therapist to assume he knows a clients emotions and thoughts.

Because you are feeling that his objective reaction feels like judgment to you, talk to him about that. It is important fodder for therapy. There is a reason that having a therapist actually be completely nonjudgmental in his response FEELS judgmental. That's worth asking about and exploring with your therapist.
Thanks for this!
feileacan, JustExisting, Lemoncake, LonesomeTonight, MobiusPsyche, NP_Complete, Omers, unaluna