did your therapist ever cry in a session with you?

Two times in the past month after an intense session I think I saw my therapist wipe her eyes like she was crying. This has happened at the end of the sesion and after she has hugged me. I don't think I am imagining this. I don't want her to be sad. She is so good to me. Has this ever happened to anyone?

Hi cmac,

So I have a REALLY hard time opening up and "feeling my feelings"...but one day about a month or so ago I was definitely having a fairly intense reaction to something my T and I were discussing, and I got all teary-eyed, and my T said that he was "right there with me" and was EXTREMELY emotional himself and VERY teared up as well. I remember sitting there like "OHMIGODTISGOINGTOCRY." It was the most intense session ever, I guess for lots of reasons, and I wonder if that will happen again. He and I did discuss it, and I know he was reacting to my feeling what I was feeling. I have not "felt" the same kind of intensity in a session since then, but I think if I do, he will be right there with me.

And you know what? I think that means we have pretty d*mn good Ts. I know mine is, and it sounds like yours is, too. I would not worry too much about yours crying. It just means she is tuned in with you and feeling what you are feeling and is very connected during your session. Also, T has ways of dealing with her own feelings. I am sure she will be fine. However, I am sure it would be ok to ask her about it, too.

It sounds like you are doing good work with a good T, so that is awesome.

Yes, my T has cried or "teared up" a number of times. It is a sign of empathy. It just means he is so strongly feeling what I am feeling, right along with me. He has also cried when it is not because of me. Like once he was telling me about a friend of his to whom he is very very close, and he got kind of emotional in relating this close bond to me. It's OK. I like that he is an emotional guy. I never feel that I am making him sad. (He chose this profession, right?) His show of empathy for me is a sign of his support and that he understands what is going on with me. It is a sign of how close we are. I see the tears of a therapist only as a positive. I have also cried when my T told me something about himself, and at first I was kind of embarrassed about that, but then I thought, hey, he cries for me, I'm just going to let my feelings out and if tears come, it's not a horrible thing. Later in that session he thanked me for my empathy. It was very sweet. I think your T crying is a sign that you have a close relationship with her, cmac.

Yes, my therapist teared up during one particular session when I was talking about my sister and my fears about her dying. Like Sunrise said, it's a sign of empathy.

i think it is a sign of empathy.. once early, early in therapy, t cried, i felt very guilty. it freaked me out... it made me feel like i was so messed up that "i make the t cry"
I didn't have a clue about therapy or empathy then, now when i think about it it was nice... confusing, but nice
so, i think it is a good thing your t cried

My T has never cried in session with me.....I wonder what that means....

Yes, for happy things and for sad things. Sometimes he will say something about it, like "that makes me feel teary" but usually he doesn't say anything. He is a good role model for me....feeling my feelings is scary, but he is so comfortable with feeling and expressing what he's feeling. I like that.

When he tears up, I feel like he is really "with" me. There have been times when he has teared up about something I say, and it gives me a little jolt, because I'm just "reporting" and not feeling. It helps me know that "feeling sad about this would makes sense" or whatever.

My Therapist cried once when I had a pretty important breakthrough. I used to joke about it ("wow, I'm so f'ed up that I made my therapist cry"), but I considered it a powerful sign of our connection and his empathy.

Yes, one time when I was in hospital and had run away in an attempt to kill myself. When I was brought back, we were talking about it and my T teared up. It's because we were quite close, and I think he didn't like to think of the possibility of me committing suicide.

My T cried in session with me last month when I was suicidal. She was saying, "Jexa, I can't explain what it would do if you were to..." And she choked up and shed a couple of tears. I know what you mean about feeling bad for making T sad, but I think most of the time, T's aren't too scared of feelings, so for them, it's usually okay to feel sad sometimes.

it probably doesnt mean anything...

My therapist who didn't seem like the crying type of person emotionally, but she was crying wiping tears a lot listening from me, because she knew how bad I have it. I couldn't believe it, I laughed when she noticed how I was grieving, but I wasn't crying because I was more than emotionally exhausted. So it caught me off guard it was the first time for me or it could be allergies.

None of my Ts have either.

Don't feel bad you're not alone on that one. Mine didn't either.

It would be weird if T cried at sessions, it shows that he/she is emotionally unstable if he/she cries.

It may be, but I think most people are talking about a T shedding a few tears in sympathy. Because yeah, if a T was bawling, I'm not sure I would want that person as my T.

I have never noticed my T crying in session, but I don't look at her when my emotions get too big, so I don't know whether she has ever teared up or shed a few tears. I know that once, I noticed she wiped her eyes like she may have been crying, but I didn't see any tears so I don't know. But I gave her my journal to read, and she texted me at one point and said that some of what was inside was so sad and that she felt like crying for me. That was really overwhelming, so I'm not sure what I would do if she actually cried in my session. Maybe she knows it would overwhelm me?

Even trying to imagine T (or anybody else) "crying with me" makes me have a mild anxiety attack. I can't imagine how that could ever be a positive thing, for me personally. Fortunately, it's never going to happen.

I have never made my T cry out of empathy, but I have made her laugh so hard she's cried on a couple occasions. I like the latter, but wish for the former, as well.

She's teared up a bunch of times. She became flushed and glassy-eyed when reading something I wrote when she was pregnant.

I think it was because she was pregnant.

If she were to outright cry I would jump out of the window. Forget that.

No. He hasn't cried, thank god.

I don't think so. I don't really look up much, so I wouldn't know if there was tearing.

I wish she would cry, or give me some more of an indication that she thinks my feelings are a big deal.

Yes, a few times.

She has gotten emotional her voice has cracked, never cried. I never cried. I don't think I would handle it, I get angry and agitated when people cry, I feel like I need to make them stop.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk