Do you take an object with you to therapy to help with stress?

I always have a drink with me, normally a takeaway coffee, so I can fiddle with the lid but always have something to hold. I also always hold my bag on my lap, and in the last 18 months have put it down only twice. My T notices. It's my security. Sometimes(like both appointments this week) I don't even take the strap off!!

Yeah...... a few trust issues!

I used to always make sure to have a hair elastic on my wrist to play with when I saw previous T. I'm calmer now, but I still generally fiddle with something - my clothes, the fabric of the couch, my rings, my hair if it's down... Funnily enough I completely ignore the cushions.

I take my stuffed animal. One day when I was rushing out of the house in the morning and forgot him it was really weird. He helps me feel safe. And my T can totally tell how anxious I am about what we are talking about (or what I'm avoiding) by how I'm holding/playing with him.

Where can I buy a stress ball? Amazon?

I've been slowly picking away at the horrid wicker chair I have to sit in.

http://www.officeplayground.com/Stress-Balls-C9.aspx

The second session I had with my current therapist, I kept sitting on my hands and she didn't want me to do that. So she handed me a pink pig stress ball and it became mine. I leave it in the same place every time I leave and it's always there when I come back. My therapist told me the other day that nobody else ever touches it.

i get mine at the dollar store in the kid's section...

growlycat, I made a grounding bracelet in art therapy one time. It's an elastic one with a loop and a tail. It ends up looking like a double-wrap bracelet when I have it on, but if I untuck the "tail" I have about 8" of beads to mess around with. It has saved many a bracelet from that horrid fate of breaking (there's a picture of it here.)

My first reaction about this was good lord, I can't imagine and would not want the woman to hand me a weapon. And a projectile weapon at that. An enormously bad plan.
Sometimes my reactions amuse me because I can tell pbutton did not see it as any such thing. (At least I don't think the blinky heart thing meant yea I got handed a weapon)

And yes - amazon has a lot of choices of stress/squeeze balls.

I wish this site had something other than thanks and hugs. sometimes, I just like it and want to acknowledge. guess that's a rant ~ perhaps I need a stress ball.

No~ I don't take anything. I have enough trouble keeping track of the things I need like my keys. That would just be another something for me to keep track of and eventually have to go back for. Her office is organized so I don't see those things if she has her own supplies and I wouldn't want to play with them anyways.

No, but I wear a wrist mala (think Buddhist rosary) everyday anyway, so I fiddle with that.

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When I first started with my therapist, I would ring my hands and pull on my bracelet, a lot. She would notice and offer me a stress ball. Then, when we started really digging into my childhood I could hardly say a word without becoming visibly shaken.

So, I bought a cute little lap pillow and sewed yarn tags onto it. This way a had something to fiddle with and also as a comfort. I didn't have to use it for very long, because my therapist is really wonderful and did a great job guiding me through all my pain, and I didn't feel like I needed to "hide" anymore.

Now, when I get fidgety I run my hand across the sofa arm in a very precise pattern. LOL!

I take a 'Tangle' with me & fiddle with it. If I can't look t in the eye or feel uncomfortable, then I look at my Tangle & fiddle with it.

I do really identify with throwing glass & the breaking of it. Only trouble with that for me though, is that I then get the urge to self harm with the bits of broken glass.

I used to have a y2k "bug" toy that I could throw to the floor and it sounded like shattering glass. It was one of the best stress toys I ever had. I was so sad when it finally kicked. I have not been able to find another one to replace it yet. All the new ones I found make other stupid sounds that take away from the shattering glass noise...

I sometimes ask T for a blanket. So far she has not brought one in. I think I will bring my own .

Can anyone bring their PETS to therapy? My T has dog treats in her office....but I don't bring mine. I do think it's a great idea though, for a T to be open to people bringing their dog, if that's a comfort thing for them.

My T has one pillow. I always hugged it, sometimes would hide my face behind it....etc. Well lately she has taken over the pillow (behind her back in the chair) so I've had to make do with something else to occupy me.

I ALWAYS wear my hair down for therapy (and I always have it up in a pony tail when I'm NOT there). I am a hair twirler big time...and I've also found it's convenient to hide behind. I also try to remember to wear a necklace if I don't have one on. I play with my necklace a lot. I don't know if she does normally, or if she just mirrors me, but she also plays with hers. I notice, then realize I've got mine in my hand, or the chain in my mouth...lol

Lol, I've been there! I have a running tally of how many bracelets I've broken during sessions- 3 so far (and counting)

Not for therapy specifically, but I have a pretty big crystal collection and I always have my favorite 1-2 crystals with me, sometimes more depending on how I feel. Usually I keep them in my pockets and purse, but I have shared a few of them with my therapist.

That said, having my therapist there usually helps me feel safer than usual, so there's that.

Well not exactly, but I carry my date book and my notebook that I write therapy related stuff in. Those help with stress in the sense that I can write things down to remember and not get anxiety by not being able to remember key things we talked about or appointment times.

I usually bring my journal and ipad and then if I know it'll be a hard session I'll bring in a stuffed animal. But I told my therapist to buy kinetic sand so I'll also use that if I'm feeling stressed or anxious.

I took my stuffed animal dog that I've had since I was 2, a couple times. Other times I held onto one of the pillows off the couch and hid behind it when I needed to. Or I'd play with my pen.

No. My first therapist wouldn't allow anything like this. He wanted me to "be an adult" whatever that means. I wasn't allowed anything that might have been distracting although I did wring my hands a lot. He didn't say much about that.

With the second therapist I was afraid to take anything because of the first therapist.

I dont take anything. Sometimes Im touching a pillow which on the couch or my hair but not all the time.
I dont think that objects could help me somehow.

I don't take anything. I've been methodically tearing apart the wicker chair I sit in.