[Crook32]

I have a hard time opening up at therapy. By the time I get around to important things time is almost up and nothing really gets talked about.

Does anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it?

[Samanthagreene]

I used to have a problem opening up, but now I prepare what I want to say in advance and pretend I'm talking to a therapist just, say, as I'm biking to the library. It makes it easier when I finally arrive at therapy.

[online user]

You might write out what you'd like to say and have T read that to get you started. Will probably get easier too, as you get more into therapy.

[Crook32]

I have been in therapy for a few years. With my first one for about 3 years and then transitioned out of therapy. Just this year had to go back but my therapist moved out of state so had to find someone new. Stayed with that therapist through my last relapse but recently got a new one. I really like the one I have now but I am having the same trouble talking when I need to. This new therapist has email so I wrote her a note recently with things to talk about and she said we would tomorrow at our appointment.

Just wondering if there is anything else I could be doing to make therapy more successful.

[worthit]

I've been in therapy now for 4 years and some therapists I didn't trust so I never opened up to them. The one I have now is awesome I trust her a hundred percent and she's always had my back. I write down in a journal all week, on my phone, things I want to talk to her about and then I can get through it in a less scary way since I'm not the type to trust easily. Then we can get to all of my concerns on my list.

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[ThisWayOut]

I utilize email to bring up topics I want to talk about. It helps give him a heads-up and he reminds me at the beginning of the session. But lately, even that feels like I'm not covering what I need to.
Sorry you are not getting as much out of it as you would like.

[Hope-Full]

I try to get to therapy 10-15 minutes early, and while waiting, I compile the key things from my journal from the past week, making a list of things I want to touch upon with T. When tough things come up, I often write a letter to T and share it in session (I don't have email/text contact) with everything being written out ahead of time, it makes it hard to freeze, cause worst case scenario I will hand T the letter or list.

[htebsiL radnalaS]

Originally Posted by Crook32

I have been in therapy for a few years. With my first one for about 3 years and then transitioned out of therapy. Just this year had to go back but my therapist moved out of state so had to find someone new. Stayed with that therapist through my last relapse but recently got a new one. I really like the one I have now but I am having the same trouble talking when I need to. This new therapist has email so I wrote her a note recently with things to talk about and she said we would tomorrow at our appointment.

Just wondering if there is anything else I could be doing to make therapy more successful.

Is it that you find yourself talking about more superficial stuff til the last 5 minutes and then you realize what you really want to talk about?

That's a classic in therapy dynamics... i wonder what your therapist and you think that is about... (if that's the dynamic).

I would trust that what is happening in your sessions and your desire for more is probably exactly what you may need to be talking about. Why not start right there? Explore what happens in your session and how you're making this shift towards wanting something more and what is getting in the way... without judgments.

And/ or I'm Wondering if there's a book you could use as a guide. Anything from a workbook that has exercises for battling depression to any self help book that intrigues you. Hopefully something your therapist is familiar with. Or maybe starting with The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck. I'll bet you could even Google "getting more out of therapy" and finds lotsa stuff...