[jilliebeanmn]

I was in a really goofy mood one time and he said "say more about that."

I replied in a matter-of-fact tone..."more about that"

He said "Believe it or not, I think you are the first person to do that"

What are some of your favorite T'isms??

[gelfling]

he tossed out a plant cause it had spider mites - asked him if thats what he does with all problems i.e. clients

at the end of the session he said sometimes a plant is just a plant but that if i came in covered in spider mites he would toss me out too

[Omers]

I took a rather extended break from therapy and on my first session back I did not take my service cat. I figured we would be just catching up and nothing too serious. My T came into the waiting room, looked down and with tears in her eyes asked where Itty was and why hadn't I brought her! I responded with "Gee T, love you too". Her reply was "well, I saw you sitting there" with a big grin on her face.

[bpd mess]

when i question why i should believe something my t says, she points to her diplomas hanging on the wall and says, "because of all those papers on my wall." then she smiles.

[WePow]

"more about that" HEE HEE HEE !!!!!!!!

My T likes to say "My phone is blowing up on me!" (he sometimes has his cell in his shirt pocket) That makes me laugh for some reason.

[rainbow8]

My T says:

I'm not judging you.
Does that part know YOU'RE here?
Take good care. (in emails)
Go with that. (when we're doing EMDR)

There's a lot more but I can't think of them.

t always said "in what way" started laughing

switched to "i hear you" told him it made me feel like he hadn't heard anything i said previously.... hasn't said it since

now, Tell me whats been going on?

i do not always like open-ended questions

[seventyeight]

fun post, jillie! here are a few that i can think of:

-breathe or take a deep breath
-why do you ask? (if i ask her something personal)
-tell me what the tears are for
-i'm proud of you
-says your mom (after i say something that comes from my childhood)
-and what do you make of that? or what do you think that means?
-that's not your energy, give it back to that person
-you're doing great work
-i'm not going to abandon you, that's just not part of our relationship (or some iteration of that)

[bpd mess]

How about these (I really do like my t even though these don't sound like it):

"I hear you" which I found out really means "I'm not going to respond to that because I don't agree with you and I'm not going to argue about it."

"That's fine for today, but tomorrow is another day." when I tell her I quit.

"I can deal with that." when I tell her I don't like her.

[zooropa]

My T says "just keep breathing" and even sent me a ringtone of Dory from Finding Nemo singing the "just keep swimming song"

She used to say "call me if you need to" at the end of our sessions. Then one day she said "call me if you want to" and it really threw me off. I called her shortly after the session and said "I know this is going to sound crazy, but why did you say call me if you want to instead of call me if you need to?"

She said she had been at a training that weekend and the trainer said that's the phrase they used, so she was trying it out to see if it worked for her in her practice.

ANYWAY, ever since I asked her that she has started saying "call me if you need to or if you want to." I wonder if I'm the only one she says it that way to, because it's kind of unwieldy and doesn't really roll off the tongue, lol.

There are lots of other things she seems to say a lot:

breathe. BREATHE.
Open your eyes and stay here.
You'll be okay because you already ARE okay.
It happened in the past, you survived it.
Emotions won't kill you.

[mightaswelllive]

My T always says "I feel so protective of you"

It is really nice. I love it. Sometimes I catch myself saying it to the teens I work with.

[bpd mess]

My favorite is...."so, are we ready for the hug part of therapy now?"
I really like hugs.

[SenatorPenguin8081]

Ha.
I'm sure if given enough time I can think of some of the funny ones, but in typical impulsive fashion I feel compelled to post whatever comes to mind at the moment

"Have you ever tried meditation/relaxation techniques? Do those work for you?"=== I usually respond to that one with a deadpan because he knows better

"Slow down." ==Common statement for me, the ADHD wonder kid

"Breathe. Take deep breaths." Then he usually offers me caffeine drinks LOL

"Where are you right now?" Like really T? I think I'm in your office...

"Have you read that book? How about that one?"== Often T asks me about the books he has on his own shelves (massive collection) because he knows I'm well read and I think wants to know how much I understand about the human psyche so he can relate it back to my own personal feelings and experiences (so I can make sense of myself really)

Sometimes he asks me the questions about depression and suicide, but I think that's a legal requirement or something (I'm not usually ever suicidal and I'm not into self harm or anything like that, so those questions make me wonder what he knows about me that I don't). I do have some sort of depression sometimes, but I don't know how deep that goes...

[SenatorPenguin8081]

Originally Posted by bpd mess

My favorite is...."so, are we ready for the hug part of therapy now?"
I really like hugs.

If my T tried to hug me I'd totally flip out! I can barely shake the man's hand sometimes!

[SenatorPenguin8081]

LOL, common theme here-- about all of our T's tell us to breathe.
Therapy must take our breath away?

[bpd mess]

My t tells me to breathe too. Sometimes she just takes a really deep breath and looks at me like "your turn". It makes me laugh every time.

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by bpd mess

"I can deal with that." when I tell her I don't like her.

I like it!

Originally Posted by zooropa

Emotions won't kill you.

Like this one too!

Originally Posted by SenatorPenguin8081

LOL, common theme here-- about all of our T's tell us to breathe.

My T has never told me that, but he has a rock in his waiting room and on it is inscribed "breathe." Maybe he got tired of saying it.

During a pause, my T sometimes says, "Whatcha thinking?" and I like that. Not always easy to answer, though. And other times he says, "I'm all ears," as he waits expectantly for me to tell him something momentous. Sometimes when I seem preoccupied he asks, "where were you just now?"

[SenatorPenguin8081]

Originally Posted by sunrise

I like it!

Like this one too!

My T has never told me that, but he has a rock in his waiting room and on it is inscribed "breathe." Maybe he got tired of saying it.

During a pause, my T sometimes says, "Whatcha thinking?" and I like that. Not always easy to answer, though. And other times he says, "I'm all ears," as he waits expectantly for me to tell him something momentous. Sometimes when I seem preoccupied he asks, "where were you just now?"

Aww man, I don't like that question... the "Whatcha thinking about" question. I don't know why, it's perfectly fine and valid question but my T asks that.

Why does it bring up such intense feelings of anxiety for me when he asks that???

I used to get panic attacks. I don't anymore. The rock wouldn't have helped LOL. Actually, I think the rock in his office is a bad idea for me for reasons I won't go into detail about

My ex T (and this is why he's an ex..).told me "If you continue to take too many pills Msssss Calista (he really drew out the Ms) you'll likely wake up dead."
Seriously?? How does that work??

[SenatorPenguin8081]

Originally Posted by Calista+12

My ex T (and this is why he's an ex..).told me "If you continue to take too many pills Msssss Calista (he really drew out the Ms) you'll likely wake up dead."
Seriously?? How does that work??

Well, yeah but that is probably true. Don't want to overdose you know.

[Verbascum]

Me: I'm afraid of you.
She: I'm glad you feel safe enough to tell me so.

[ECHOES]

ugh, I sometimes steam at the 'can you say more' robotic phrase, especially after I have screwed up the courage to say something in the first place, and I feel like I've said all I have to say about it, then here comes the pressure to say more, the judgement of 'is that all there is'. grr. lol

'where were you just now', 'where do you go'... grounding but makes me defensive and I want to (but don't) answer 'none of your beeswax!'

[WePow]

Yeah - the "where did you go?" is one of the things T asked me alot. I have DID and he knows I am busy talking with the "other people" in my head (I swear my head is like the old TV Show Herman's Head). My answer is usually the same "I am asking around inside." I think he finally figured out what is going on because now he will usually just say "So, are you asking around inside?"

[sittingatwatersedge]

Interesting.! My T doesn't seem to use any of the canned phrases you folks are posting. Every few weeks I hear her say, "you have a right to your feelings"

but she does have one that I hear every time I see her, and it kills me every time...."we have to stop now"

[WikidPissah]

so many T's, so many phrases...

"feet on the floor, feel the floor beneath you, remember where you are"
"what is going thru your mind right now?"
"stop minimizing it"
"I know it's hard, but try to look at me for a second, your drifting away" (I have REALLY poor eye contact, and I hate when he says that because I have to look up from the floor)

Sometimes if I tell him something crappy that is going on he says "that's awful" and I always shrug and say "no, it's not that bad" and he ALWAYS responds "I'm entitled to my feelings".