[Mactastic]

I feel silly posting this, but what the heck...

So someone on PC brought this up awhile back (I don't remember who.) They likened therapy to having an imaginary friend who is always there. I'm a well-functioning adult with a healthy social life and a respectable job...yet I still feel like I have an imaginary friend, my T

It's just nice to "hear" his voice in scary situations or have little conversations in my head with him. In some ways it's like I carry him with me everywhere I go and I don't feel nearly as alone as I used to.

Does anyone else understand what this is like? Please tell me I'm not alone!

[Perna]

I think that can work very well (has for me) if as therapy goes on it becomes more "us" and less T. I still have a couple phrases in my T's voice that goes on in my head but mostly I have taken over the fantasies of talking with T so I talk to myself (so much healthier talking to one's self :-) and soothe myself. I guess because the reality of seeing T at some point has ended and it's not just between sessions, etc. and I had a bit too extreme a fantasy life (partly why I entered therapy in the first place).

Yes! Yes, this, exactly. I do it a lot.

Furthermore, T has suggested to me that I do this. He said, as near as I can remember "Maybe you could picture me there in the situations when you feel scared and lonely, and know that I am somebody who is completely on your side?" I suggested that that would be kind of intrusive of me, to imagine him there when he might not at all want to be there in some situations, and he suggested that I was talking complete rot, since I wasn't actually going to carry him around physically.

[stopdog]

I do fight with the woman in my head. Sometimes I picture her as Wile E Coyote and imagine pianos and anvils dropping on her. So I guess I have an imaginary enemy. I don't consider the woman to be comforting, reassuring or on my side. But I do conflict with her in my head.

[sweepy62]

you are not alone, my old t, whom i miss dearly, its only been a week by the way lol, she told me to use imagery in stressful situations and we practiced in her office. She told me to picture her in my mind. That really helps me alot, she has told me to picture me sitting next to her or in front of her whereever I am when I am in distress or need her to be there, it takes practice, but it really works, we practiced in sessions.

[HazelGirl]

My T has said I can. We have talked about creating a mental "safe place" I can go when I am scared, and I can have comforting people there, and she said that I can have her there, too. I am a little nervous about actually doing that, though.

[Rzay4]

That sounds good, I picture my second and third Ts a lot. My newest T I'm still adapting to a new environment.

[sweepy62]

Originally Posted by HazelGirl

My T has said I can. We have talked about creating a mental "safe place" I can go when I am scared, and I can have comforting people there, and she said that I can have her there, too. I am a little nervous about actually doing that, though.

i couldnt believe she said that to begin with lol, i thought it was somekind of virtual boundary she laughed said it was not. It was awkward and took practice, because when i used imagery and i saw her, i automatically shut her out of my mind. but then I kept trying and it felt peaceful, I do it now when im in anxiety mode for a minute or so along with mindfulness and it helps.

[HazelGirl]

Originally Posted by sweepy62

i couldnt believe she said that to begin with lol, i thought it was somekind of virtual boundary she laughed said it was not. It was awkward and took practice, because when i used imagery and i saw her, i automatically shut her out of my mind. but then I kept trying and it felt peaceful, I do it now when im in anxiety mode for a minute or so along with mindfulness and it helps.

Well, it's not like they would be able to stop us if we chose to anyway

I don't like pretending she will always be there because I am still very much afraid she may decide to abandon me. I don't want to imagine her there and then have her leave. That would be too hard to handle, and then to be reminded of it every time I was scared and tried to go to my mental safe place would be overwhelming.

[willowbrook]

I don't really consider my Pdoc to be an imaginary friend, but he does come up in my thoughts when I'm going through certain emotions or situations, and I try to stop and think back to a certain session, and what we spoke about, and then try to change my reactions.

That's a nice analogy. I always keep t close to me, I think about her and hear her voice in my head!

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[melania]

Some days ago I wanted to text my therapist that he is my imaginary friend
But I texted him that he is my angel.

Sad but true- therapist plays your friend and you pay him about it, so he's imaginary friend who will always be there for you, who listens to you.
But maybe he's an angel who really cares about you, who wants to save you.

[always_wondering]

Good way to look at it.

[Jordy]

I often have T as an imaginary friend, for example regularly when I can't sleep because I feel threatened I imagine she's sitting next to my bed watching over me. Or when I'm driving long-distance for work I imagine she's in the van with me and I talk to her. Sometimes I think about our last or next session, sometimes I imagine what she would tell me about different situations...

[melania]

I'm talking in my imagination to him very often.
Sometimes I had a feeling he is with me. It's a nice feeling.
When I went to sleep I imagine I sleep in his arms.

[stopdog]

I already have a lot of insomnia. If I imagined the therapist there while trying to sleep, I would need to be armed with one eye open the whole time.

[Petra5ed]

I read somewhere that it's very common and I think it's a good thing. It just means your T is an important person in your life. My T is my imaginary friend as well. Not sure if this is good or not, but I often look at his picture when I'm very anxious. It's irrational, but just seeing him makes me feel safe.

"Does anyone else understand what this is like? Please tell me I'm not alone."

I understand this so well, and no you are definitely not alone. I am finished with therapy, and do not have a SO, so I still use my therapist as that go to person in my head. It doesn't hurt anyone so in my opinion and my former therapist opinion it is definitely okay. I even use the memory of her holding me when I have trouble sleeping — rare these days, and I've never had to take a substance to go to sleep.

[nottrustin]

I don't consider her an imaginary friend...I do often try to think of what she would say and what questions she would ask in order to work through situations and frustration

[Yearning0723]

I talk to T in my head all the time. I thought I was the only one...she never really responds to me in my head; mostly I just narrate things to her and work things through and imagine her listening. And I practice how I will say things in session.

[BadWolf]

I imagine my t when I am lonely. But I always imagine her sitting in a chair in the corner of whatever room I am in.

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[ShaggyChic_1201]

I am not a very imaginative person (I write for technical journals IRL) so I can't picture ... well, anything ! But in times of stress, I can usually conjur up the words that my T would say and the questions she would ask to calm me/ground me. And this does comfort me and gets me out of my panicked feeling/thinking and back into the safer world of intellect.

Originally Posted by stopdog

I do fight with the woman in my head. Sometimes I picture her as Wile E Coyote and imagine pianos and anvils dropping on her. So I guess I have an imaginary enemy. I don't consider the woman to be comforting, reassuring or on my side. But I do conflict with her in my head.

Stopdog - I'll just come out and say, I always get a kick out of your posts. I can't relate to most of what you write, but appreciate your unique views