[Leilee]

Seems I'm forever given homework to assist in my growth.
He asked me to think about what direction I want to work upon for the next three months and I've chosen to get it straight with my parents. They never seem to actually share feelings with me and I never really know where they're coming from. He suggested a letter and for now I'm stumped.

I think just venting with you now has helped cuz I know kind have what I want to say/ask. Do any of you get a sense of it's not okay to be you from your parents? Meaning mentally ill?

[JustAPixie]

I'm always different infront of my parents... I don't know why. I love getting therapy homework, it keeps my mind focused.

Most if not all therapy professionals do assign homework because 98% of therapy is not done in the therapy room. Its taking what you learn in therapy and applying it to your outside of therapy life.

A person on a weekly therapy schedule sees their therapist for 50 minutes out of 10,080 minutes a week. So for 10,030 minutes t he client is supposed to be using what they are learning in the therapy room. (twice a month it is 50 minutes with a therapy professional and 20,110 outside of therapy life, and monthly a person sees their therapy professional for 50 minutes and 40,220 of that they are not in therapy session)

LL doesn't have a chance to give me homework and neither did SKR because I am already doing that myself. When I had no choice but stay in therapy (after I entered therapy for depression a DHS caseworker found out I have a history of dropping off meds and out of therapy so during our first court hearing she had the judge court mandate t hat I remain in therapy at my therapist discression and on medication at my physicians discression) so I desided since I had no choice I could use that time to sit and say nothing and do nothing and lose my child to the system or I could get things taken care of.

So I bring my outside of therapy life into the therapy room I brought the therapy room outside the therapy sessions and into my life. I sat down and wrote out

why I was in therapy
What my problems were
Brainstormed on ideas to take care of those problems

Then I got to work on those things of

journaling
artwork
researching my problems at the local library
learning more relaxation techniques
learned grounding techniques
took classes in the community -
Parenting classes
anger management classes
three depression management classes (2 completed)
Crafts such as diaramas and scale models

A therapist gears their therapy sessions according to what thier clients needs and wants are so I took that and ran with it.

Most times instead of the therapist saying - ok here is what we are going to do today

I say ok here's what I am doing about this.

so my therapists don't have a change to assign me homework because I am already doing more then they would ever think of assigning.

Besides I would rather do something I like and want to do instead of waiting for the t herapist to assign me something to do that may not like or want to do. (another reason why I do my own therapy homework assigning. LOL)

[(JD)]

Nope my T does not give me homework in that sense. The most he does is give me doctor's orders to rest and NOT do therapy outside the session. But then, I may be more disordered than most ppl.

[ickydog2006]

I just got back into therapy since starting college and I was having a real problem with so many of my past T's saying at the end of sessions "Well, it seems like you are going through a rough patch, but you are doing okay, have figured out what you need to work on and are on the right track."
Finally, I confronted my new one about how I felt about this, and how I knew what I needed to work on but not how, so guess what... homework started.

I'm glad she is doing this because I do know what a lot of my issues/problems are and what needs to change (from being in therapy for so long), I just don't know how to change it. Homework helps me focus and work on one issue at a time so I don't get overwhelmed by all of them.
Also every now and then my boyfriend gives me homework... but those are easy... more like smile at at least one person. Take 5 minutes for you today.

As much as venting and expressing my feelings in therapy helps, what really helps in the long run is changing my attitude and negative/irrational thinking patterns with the guided help of a T.

[JonB]

I've never been given homework. Sometimes I give myself homework trying to figure out things before the next time - trouble is, I'm lousy at turning it in - go figure, just like school! Good luck. I've heard lots of people say that writing things out helps them.

[bipolar_bear]

My t really encourages writing. I have a hard time expressing myself when I am there but do failry well when I journal. I was very nervous for quite a while actually giving it to her as it was personal and I feared rejection or worse some type of negative reaction. Of course that never happened. Now it has become a huge part of my t. Maybe you could try giving it to your t and see how it goes. It may also be beneficial if you could express your fears prior to handing it to your t.

I have even written many negative things that have happened between us and it has strengthened our relationship rahther than rip it apart as I feared. Everyone is different and this is only my way of epressing myself. Good luck in whatever you find helpful.

[Perna]

I never got "real" homework from my therapist and I use to be jealous of those who did. I always had to figure out what and how to work on issues on my own. At the beginning of therapy I use to bring in books with paragraphs I wanted my therapist to read because the author expressed what I was feeling so well but she refused to read them and would make me express myself in my own words. It was all harder but well worth it to me in the end.