I think it probably important to process with your therapist, why it is important for you to see your files.

Although you do have a right to see your files, it is a T's job to discourage that because as individuals in recovery from a mental illness, reading that a doctor or therapist wrote, can end up being more detrimental.

I had a client a couple of weeks ago who wanted to see his file. I told him that I didn't feel comfortable doing anything that I didn't see as beneficial to his treatment. Instead, I asked him what it would be like if he was to write his own treatment notes. He discussed with me, what his own "progress note" would look like if he wrote it. We talked about how close or far away his interpretation was, from what was written in the chart. Most of all, we talked about why this was so important to him.