[sailorboy]

T has expressed numerous times the desire to know more about my childhood. It comes up every now and then and I know there's stuff that I could probably spend time on but I feel weird broaching any topic that doesn't present itself organically. My childhood was relatively uneventful. How do I start talking about it?

[stopdog]

Is there something specific you want to tell the therapist about your childhood? In my case the therapist asked questions about childhood.

[sailorboy]

Originally Posted by stopdog

Is there something specific you want to tell the therapist about your childhood? In my case the therapist asked questions about childhood.

Not really. I'm in my mid thirties and my relationship with my parents is still problematic so I guess it might be helpful to get to the root of that issue. Find a way to reduce their power?

[stopdog]

Could you ask the therapist to help by asking you some specific questions about childhood? The one I see asked about how we were punished, what grades I remember and what I remember about them, to describe holidays and birthdays- those sorts of things.

[sailorboy]

I've said many times that I would answer any specific question but T wants me to initiate topics.

[stopdog]

Well, you could initiate the topic- I want to talk about my childhood but need some help from you to get started- sort of thing

[kororain]

Can you think about a situation that happened recently with your parents, and relate it back to a situation that happened when you were a kid, then expand from there?

Have you thought about taking photographs in to session with you and using them as a starting point for discussion? That's been a very productive method for me at times.