[Alishia88]

Do you know any questions to ask yourself concerning how effective your therapy is, how well you´re moving along or questions regarding how you can make it more effective?

I never know if I´m doing therapy "right", what "should" I talk about.

My t says not to prepare anything and just see what things show up.

However, I just simply do not agree that this is the most effective for me personally.

Sometimes for example I start talking about things that aren´t so important to me, because I´m nervous at the beginning of every session, just to say something.
And often she gets hung up on that and we end up talking about things, that may not be unimportant but the "real" issues, somehow, I feel are not adressed.

Or often I had it happen, that I wanted to tell her about my history from the past 4 years. Many many things have happened to me and I think it´s important for her to know and for me to talk about it. Simply, because I feel so cut off from my own history.
I feel like she doesn´t like to do that and often steers the conversation elsewhere.

I´m just unsure....

[Leah123]

I believe preparation is very important. Write a list of goals for yourself, behavioral, emotional, practical. Work toward them by talking them through in therapy along with talking about day-to-day stuff you need help coping with, and developing better coping skills.

In between sessions, practice taking good care of yourself, using tools... workbooks, visualizations, exercise, music, etc. whatever works to balance out your areas for improvement.

Prior to sessions, write out how you're feeling, what's been on your mind, things of significance going on, etc. so you have some insights to add to the conversation.

You might try some creative writing too, especially if you're trying to get in touch with your history, doing poetry or stories, also artwork, music, etc. can facilitate that connection.

Hope it helps!

[nicoleflynn]

You are the client and you are paying her for a service. You are supposed to talk about whatever you want to. There is no "right" in therapy or shoulds.........How about writing down what you want to talk about, so that you don't get derailed in talking about things that are not so important; that way you can stay on track and the subject which is important to you. It isn't about what SHE want s to talk about.

Begin to talk about the history from the past 4 years....from the beginning and stay on that until/unless you decide to talk about something esle.

She is working for you, not the other way around. Not preparing might be her way of doing things, but it isn't for you. Therapists don't tell clients how to "do" therapy.

[OneWorld]

Maybe you could talk to her about how you should approach each session to make the best use of your time together. Perhaps you could come up with a template.

This week, I felt ___. The biggest thing(s) I dealt with was ___. Today I need to talk about ____.

And you could start your session by going over that together to get you started.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[withoutthelove_]

My therapist told me there is no "correct" way to do therapy. For example, I write in a journal each day and during my sessions, T reads them and she brings up with me what she feels is important to talk about or what she needs clarification on.
I'm not much of a talker when it comes to my feelings/emotions, so this is how I do therapy.

[nottrustin]

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, I think it depends on the person and what they are doing by preparing.

For me I am trying NOT to prepare. I have found that when I prepare for a session and what I am going to talk about I find that I also anticipate the questions she will probably ask and I prepare my answers so that I will not be put on the spot and tell the truth rather than the "safe" answer.

[purplemystery]

I feel this way a lot too. I always heavily prepare what to say, to the point where I write it all down and then practice saying it out loud. My T has also suggested I come in without any preparation. It sounds appealing in a way because I wonder what would happen, but in reality I think it would be a disaster because my brain becomes mush in therapy. I can't think very well. As other people have said, it is completely up to you how you want to spend your sessions. If you think that coming in unprepared is not your style, then that's okay. Everyone is different.