Did you ever?

Did you ever say something really outlandish or ridiculous and T didn't react? Did you do it on purpose? Maybe it was just something provocative, like talking about sex when you don't usually do that.

Sometimes I say something and I'm shocked that T doesn't jump on it. He does his "I'm just staring at you routine." And then I'm thinking "whoaaaa....not a blink!" In those moments I'm not sure if he's tired, or if I'm acting out and trying to get him to react. It's probably a little of both.

Usually when I say something outlandish I end up swearing in my frustration. (Ok, that's pretty lame, but its as outlandish as I can get with another person.) My pdoc/t usually uses the same language back on me, I suppose in a mirroring sort of way. SO, I guess I'm saying that it seems alright that your t just takes your behavior or information in stride. Are you trying to get a particular reaction out of him?

Yes, I did this twice. To the same T actually. And nothing - in either case. I was trying to get a rise out of him because I was acting out - didn't work. I just roll my eyes and smile when I think about it...the things I do...

ah, this totally hits home....I will hold off saying something because i find it so embarrassing or not something i wanna let out and i say it and my T doesnt react one bit...i dont think anything surprises them lol. i swear like a sailor and she doesnt act phased at all. lol

Teachers do the same thing, particularly secondary teachers. We've just about seen and heard it all. Not much makes me flinch in the classroom.

I think sometimes a say things that I THINK are outlandish and my T doesn't respond in kind. In this situations I usually stop and silently assess her response or lack thereof to see is there is any hint that she is hiding her true reaction. IDK... if my T didn't react in some way to something really wacky...I think I would get angry with her. I don't want someone to just sit in the room. I want someone to listen and TELL or at least say, "what?" to me when I say something that is totally off the wall.

gee...I'll have to try this sometime and see what happens... *evil grin* (we need a smilie for that!)

no, my pdoc/T react enough during my sessions that i don't feel the need to be manipulative in order to get a reaction out of them.

if anything, i hold things back because i find it difficult to watch their reactions. but i'm slowly starting to look at faces rather than the floor, so i guess that's a good thing.

I haven't said anything on purpose to shock my therapist, but I have said a lot of things that I though would get a reaction from her but she is usually very good at keeping a straight face, she has never looked shocked but has broken out in laughter a few times. Nothing that has upset me, I can always understand why she sees the humor in the situation.

I'm a sarcastic person by nature, so some of the comments I make, I feel MIGHT get a reaction out of them, but I don't say things specifically to get a rise out of them. Even things that would get a reaction under normal circumstances usually don't with T.

oh!! a not-on-purpose thing i said was "i love uni", but austin-T heard it as "i love you" and he almost fell off his chair with that one. pretty funny once we'd cleared it up.

pdoc tends to keep a straight face but i've known him for so long now i usually can read what's going on. he says i keep a straight face too, but he knows how to read me also. two straight faces and lots of reading .

I said "this is terrible to say... but now that a lot of my family-of-origin are dead, life sure is a lot easier."

No comment from T, no reaction, not even a blink. I would have thought that at the very least she would have challenged the "this is terrible to say" thing, but nothing.

I ended up with the conviction that what I;d said was, truly, terrible.

Kinda like SAWE was saying, I tend to warn T if I'm about to say something possibly shocking.

She asked me a question in our last session, and I responded by saying "I know you're hoping I'll say this, but really I'm feeling that."