Do you have a "poker face" ?

Are you REALLY really good at hiding your feelings? I think i am. So much so that i don't think my therapist can tell when things are really bothering me. In life i got so used to concealing how i truly felt about things because emotion was bad, that now i just do it without a 2nd thought. But it bothers me that i can be so unreadable that i have to explain how i am feeling to my therapist. For example she can say something to me, that i seem to take well, like an impending vacation and take it in my stride, then have a meltdown about it at home and tell her how i really feel via email.

Oh this sounds like me. I never show any emotion in session. My T has even commented that I can tell about a horrific event in the most calm, almost happy tone of voice and my face is totally blank or I am smiling.

Would love to be able to show outwardly what I'm feeling inwardly.

No, not really. The only "problem" is, when I talk about a past trauma, I somehow detach from it or even make it humorous, so it looks as if I don't really care or hurt. I guess it may be interpreted as a poker face, but it is unintentional.

I have a poker face as well. For both good and bad feelings my face always seems to stay the same. I can think that I'm in a great mood and be smiling and then someone will ask me why I'm so serious. My T has also said that he has a hard time reading me. Just a couple of weeks ago I told him I was really agitated (like a 12 on a 1-10 scale), and he said he couldn't tell at all. He thought that I was a bit off, but nothing that was really obvious.

Hopefully we can both get to a point where we don't think that emotion is bad, or shouldn't be shown.

i feel the same way always hide my feelings on outside but feel it on the insidw

YES! I can say some really serious, emotional things and seem completely blank and unaffected.. out in the real world its a handy defence mechanism to have, but it's really not a good thing in a therapeutic scenario.

I honestly think ex-T believed I was either lying, or being melodramatic when I disclosed just how bad I was feeling, and that I was having some really troubling - constant - suicidal thoughts. I wasn't taken seriously or offered any kind of support/help for the simple fact that I wasn't being outwardly emotional or bawling my eyes out. It disturbs me that she really didn't see my (near successful) attempt coming.. it truly shocked her when she found out what I'd done.

I tend to apologize for "pretending" after the fact. We've both got accustom to me dropping off my real thoughts and feeling in a letter format before coming in for T. This helps her know what "she's walking into" when she sees me and my one word answers.

I have a face like Mr Bean.

I definately do not have a poker face...........my emotions show on my face whether I like it or not.....darn it!

I don't do well with scales, but I can definitely relate to that. My first to saw at school thought I was in the office to be a peer mentor not because I was falling apart and couldn't function off robot mode.

i have a poker face but apparently my eyes are my tell. That just means I have to not look at her lol

I have a poker face with anything as long as it does not offend me. If I get offended I go off my head with anger. But anything else I don't really care about and thus you won't be able to read me very well - my face just kinda sits there like "mehh". Oh, but you can tell if I am about to cry though, it is really obvious. I never really cry but when I am about to its reaaaally obvious.

I'm not sure if I do or not, honestly. On the one hand I'm really good at making people think I'm ok when I'm not. I was able to deceive my ex-T a lot of the time, more or less intentionally. On the other hand I have a friend who, only the other week, told me I'm very easy to read - but on the third hand that's the only person except current T I feel comfortable talking about personal stuff with. So maybe it's just that I am easier to read when relaxed.

I find the thought that somebody could know what I think or feel by looking at my face rather disconcerting, to be honest.

Oh yes, this is me.

I smile about everything. I laugh when I talk habitually. Most T's have found that really odd, but my most recent T saw thru it.

It's amazing how adept we've all become to hiding strong emotions. If i don't get in that "therapy space" and let my guard down to allow me to truly feel and express how i'm feeling... then i can sit and pretend something doesn't bother me that much.