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LonesomeTonight
Always in This Twilight
 
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Default Oct 12, 2021 at 06:48 AM
 
The part that particularly bothers me here is that she wouldn't accept your canceling the session. You have the right to cancel a session if you want without a bunch of pressure from the T to keep it. Sure, she could choose to charge you for it (depending on your contract), but she should grant you the autonomy to cancel.

OK, I'm also bothered by her saying to stop acting like a child. Have you tried talking to her about feeling like she hates you?

My therapist can be pretty blunt (though much less so lately), and I let him know when he says something that feels hurtful. Or if I want a further explanation for what he said, because my mind often goes to the worst possible interpretation (part of why I'm in therapy!). Or I ask if he's frustrated with me. And he'll generally be honest, which can also hurt sometimes. But he's helped me make progress in areas where past therapists could not because they didn't challenge me in the same way.

So a T who can be very direct and at times harsh can be helpful. But as others said, if you're scared to talk to her or to even go to session (or to cancel), then I think that would interfere with having helpful therapy. So I'd try talking to her about it. Maybe she can go a little more gentle on you, if you ask? I eventually got my T to do that--he actually says he's more gentle on me than on most other clients, because he's learned that being more harsh with me can backfire. It could be that your T doesn't realize the effect this is having on you because it might work with some clients (or maybe they're all scared, too, but just not saying anything).
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