[dolphingirl]

I finally meet with t tomorrow and the last time we met was 4 weeks ago. I know I'll be asked how I'm doing/have been doing and what I want to talk about. So much has happened over the last month and I'm not sure if I can give one definitive answer because I've been good, bad, okay, and the bottom of okay and what I want to talk about, how am I supposed to narrow it down. She might bring up how I was a mess a few days ago and doing good now. I have no idea what to expect or where to start when describing how I was/am doing and what I want to talk about.

[sittingatwatersedge]

long gaps are hard aren't they?

what keeps coming back to your mind? whether on one end of the spectrum or the other?

Some on here suggested that I make a list of all the things on my mind. Then, go over that list with a view to which thing I would walk out of therapy and regret not talking to him about.

Good luck! Long gaps are hard.

[Perna]

Those broad questions are stumpers sometimes, aren't they? It is good you are thinking about it now, I would just be more proactive about it and have a plan of some sort when you go in rather than wait for the questions.

The questions are just open-ended, "How are you?" greetings almost, not a request that you compress four weeks into one sentence of 10 words or fewer It's not "Name that Tune" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_That_Tune where you have to get it all in there, in the correct order, in the first five or ten minutes of the session.

If those questions bother or stump you, think up your own? If you could ask yourself any question, what would it be? I do an exercise every now and then when I'm bored or depressed and in a grocery store, I ask myself, "if you could buy only one item in this store, what would you buy?" and then I go find it and buy it for myself :-)

Make a wild wish, tell it to your T when you walk in and then start exploring why you made that wish! It's your therapy. "I wish you would not ask me how I am when you get back from being away; I find it stressful" and see how she responds? I imagine my T saying, "Okay, I won't" and smiling and becoming silent again with her listening face on.

You could ask the questions on paper you have asked here and do the imagined response thing (as you have done with the "might bring up" scenario) and see if anything interesting shows up you want to talk to her about, tell her, explore with her.

Having read your interesting post and written this reply; if I were you I would not think about it at all anymore and go in there and see what she actually does say/how the session opens and answer on the spot with whatever pops into my head. If nothing "pops" I'd say that ("nothing is popping into my head; so much has happened over the last month and I'm not sure if I can give one definitive answer because I've been good, bad, okay, and the bottom of okay. . ." :-)

[dolphingirl]

Perna, your last sentence is kind of funny, but that is pretty much what I said, though I didn't read that beforehand. T asked what's been going on/how I've been doing at the beginning of the session. I said that there has been a lot of small things, listed a bunch of things (good, horrible, and between), and said that I've been good, kind of okay, horrible, okay, good, barely good, bad, and good. We then talked about some of those things/feelings in detail. I think it went pretty well. At one point, I said something about friends getting annoyed with my problems and them reassuring me that they weren't annoyed, but thought I needed help. Then, she asked if I thought she was annoyed with my issues. I told her yes and t asked why. I simply said that if I was annoyed by them, I couldn't see how someone else wouldn't be annoyed by them. T assured me she wasn't and that's why she's a t, to listen and help. There was also the medication issue brought up. I was told to think & write about x before next week, first time for something like that. I was also told about t's new job responsibilites/title and that she wasn't taking on new clients but keeping the current ones, which was a relief. Then t surprised me by offering me an appointment next week. I'm glad it went well because I'm tired and really wanted help.

[Perna]

Yes, but remember how well it went and what happened so next time she is away you can at least know it will be okay, the first session back. It won't get rid of all the anxiety in my experience but will let me ignore thinking and worrying about it until it is time to.