Hello thepowerflower: I see this is your first post here on PC. Welcome to Psych Central. Actually, I can relate to a lot of what you wrote. There are things, both from my childhood, as well as my adult years, I could never talk about with anyone. This is one of the reasons I never really managed to find a therapist I felt comfortable working with.

Here are links to 8 articles, from Psych Central's archives, that (hopefully) may be of some help:

6 Ways to Open Up and Talk in Therapy

Tips for Talking to Your Therapist

Therapists Spill: 10 Tips for Making the Most of Therapy

Overcoming 3 Common Obstacles in Therapy

3 More Obstacles in Therapy and How to Overcome Them

What Is Toxic Shame?

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/psych...d-toxic-shame/

https://psychcentral.com/blog/tell-y...out-the-abuse/

I hope you find PC to be of benefit.