[DelusionsDaily]

I have been thinking a lot about honesty and how incredibly important it is in my therapy both with individual therapy and group DBT.

I think progress is directly related to how honest you are in therapy and with yourself in processing your sessions afterwards. I know for me there is a significant difference in my level of honesty in individual therapy and group DBT this time around compared to last time. I truly believe that the increase in my level of honesty this time around has contributed to my expedited progress.

In individual therapy there's no limits on what I will talk about with T. It's a no holds bar kind of attitude. In group DBT, talk of life experiences is always connected to how and when I used a skill in sharing my diary card otherwise I am typically focused on the information being provided, questions I have, and being honest with myself in regards to my understanding of what they are providing.

For me last time there was always some kind of excuse for not being total transparent with my treatment team. In realizing it was just my way of manipulating the team to my liking I had to come up with way to eliminate the excuses and as Nike says "Just Do It". To me that meant complete honesty with everyone this time around.

Now the first year with a new, although I don't have this problem with new T, there can be a "learning to trust" period. At the same there is some "forced" sharing to learn that trust. I don't place a whole lot of importance on attachment in my case though I do understand it's importance in other cases. I am not sure how attachment work so I won't say more than that.

Just expressing some thoughts I have been having...feel free to comment if you wish.



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[A Red Panda]

I'm definitely in the "force myself to be honest" camp.

I like my T, and I think he's good at his job, but I find it really, really, hard to share things with him if it really involves emotions. I don't trust him even though I am trying to trust him.

So I tell him most of the things that I would tell him if I did trust him. And I answer questions honestly, although I know I don't always give a full answer.

I have the attitude that it's his job to try and help me, but he can't do that if I lie and withhold everything. And I feel guilty at the thought of making his job harder for him.

[Petra5ed]

What kinds of thoughts were you holding back that you can share now? I like the idea of being able to say anything to your T, and I agree that you probably have to be honest to really benefit from therapy. Still, I see myself holding back here and there, mainly from discussing my thoughts and feelings about my T. Also, for me sometimes it's just being honest with myself, and figuring out what I'm really up to.

[DelusionsDaily]

Originally Posted by Petra5ed

What kinds of thoughts were you holding back that you can share now? I like the idea of being able to say anything to your T, and I agree that you probably have to be honest to really benefit from therapy. Still, I see myself holding back here and there, mainly from discussing my thoughts and feelings about my T. Also, for me sometimes it's just being honest with myself, and figuring out what I'm really up to.

I find myself being more honest about what I think and how I feel about what T has said to me. I find it leads to more conversation and better understanding of each other. I also find myself holding back less and when I do hold back I examine why in my post session processing. That usually leads me to bring it up in next session.

Talking to T about thoughts/feelings about him/her can be a very difficult subject. However, it could be an important conversation so it won't interfere with your therapy. It could also bring about better understanding of each other as difficulties you have in therapy could be related to those thoughts/feelings depending on what those thoughts/feelings are. Just remember it's not your job to protect T and T can't help make connections related to that subject if you don't talk about it. But ultimately it's your choice to talk about it or not. But for what it's worth: I wish I had talked to my pdoc about my feelings or him. It may have help in my cooperation in my treatment plan. I can't now cuz he's not my pdoc right now but it helped to even talk about it with new T.

Just some thoughts for consideration...



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