Have you told T about Psych Central?

Right after my last session I was feeling upset about a conversation I had with T, and I made a thread on PC about it. I got some really insightful replies that made me realise I had totally misinterpreted my T's intentions. I really want to read my post to my T as well as a couple of the replies that really helped me (I'm talking about you, Hazelgirl and Leah123!) I think it would be good for T to hear how I felt right after, and how I was helped to realise he wasn't trying to reject me. (I think it says a lot about my abandonment issues and would be useful to therapy)

BUT I have never told T about PC and I'm really worried that he would be able to find my posts (I'm probably deluding myself that he would care enough to check ) I have written stuff on here that I haven't shared with him, and I've also written stuff about him that I wouldn't like him to read. That fear is making me reluctant to do something potentially beneficial to my therapy. I don't know if I could ask him not to read it, or if that would make him more curious!

Have you told your T about PC, and do you think a T would look their client up on it?

i only told my t that i hang out on a mental health board. he barely has time for lots of things, much less PC LOL. he might be able to pick me out, but he'd have to read a lot of my posts to figure it out which at that point, i'd be worried about *his* mental health

my t couldntbe bothered. unless theyre getting paid im pretty sure they could care less what we write about them unless you feel like telling it to them.

I've told my T I post on a therapy forum and some of the issues that affect me around it. I don't know actually if I've specifically said "Psychcentral" but I'm not personally concerned about it. I trust my therapist not to look if I ask her not to, but... I also operate on the basis that I don't write anything I couldn't bear to have everyone read... I try to live the open book life, for the most part.

I think it's very fair to ask him to read one thread that you print out for him (you can even just post the comments without the site-identifying info if you like) and ask him not to look further, and for him to respect your wishes. He's there to help you *with what you present* not to poke around in your personal life for material.

I don't think reputable therapists would muddy the waters by looking up clients here.

I have not told my T that I post here - I don't really think it's relevant to my work with her.

The times that a post and replies on here have been helpful in my work with my T, I've mentioned to her that I discussed something with others and got some good feedback.

I have not talked with the therapist about this forum. I cannot imagine how it would be pertinent to what I talk about with the therapist or that the therapist would care one way or the other. It really has no bearing on therapy for me.
I also think that it is harder to figure out clients than clients sometimes think. Most of the threads are not unique nor are the concerns of clients. If you look back over the really old threads - the same topics come up over and over and over and clients tend break down into groups. For me, I have never written anything here that I did not tell the therapist anyway. She knows how I feel about her and therapy and that I see other therapists.

I told her a therapy board and nothing else. Just don;t mention the name, I'm sure she wont have time to figure it out.

Yes, I told her that I post on a psych message board. I haven't told her which one.
Sometimes I read her things I've written here.

I haven't told my T about it (if I mention y'all, I say something like "I was talking to some friends about..."), but she would definitely be able to pick me out easily if she tried. I wouldn't mind, though. She knows practically everything that I have written here.

No, I have not told her and do not plan to. This is a place for me to talk/think through aspects of my therapy before I discuss them with her. The privacy and anonymity are what make this a safe place for me. If my T discovered my posts on PC, she would know it was me instantly. Therefore, I do not want to even mention that I post on a site at all.

I told my t about PC, she thought it was a reputable site. She had heard of it before.

I know it sounds irrational to worry about him looking on here and I suppose it has something to do with my insecurities about the relationship, the idea makes me anxious though.
I probably will pluck the courage to tell him because PC has become an important source of support for me between sessions and that's relevant.
It's nerve wracking and I can't explain why!

I think it makes perfect sense that it's nerve wracking and you're feeling anxious. I would too. Just because I'm willing to show her everything doesn't make it too easy.

It's tough to show someone what you've said about the process of working w/them, about the therapeutic relationship, about struggles that are easier to share anonymously than in a closed room with a therapist...

but I trust it will work out alright for you and I do think it'll be safe, that your T won't pursue it further- remember, you're in the driver's seat.

Yes I have mentioned it several times. I can't help but secretly hope she has checked it out, if she had she would never tell me.

Thank you, that's absolutely how it feels. I hope that trusting my T becomes easier with time. I guess I have to take these risks in order to see that I can trust him.

Deep down I sort of think it will be safe too. It's just the initial leap of faith that is scary!

Even if you don't tell your T, is this forum not famous enough? I mean I'm sure many therapists who browse the net regularly know about it. Whether they can identify people or want to spend time trying to do so or whether it's ethical, that's a different story.

Yeah I do worry about that. I'm fairly certain that from the stuff I have written on here the only people who would be able to identify me are T and H. Neither of those would be the end of the world but I'd still rather they didn't read it.

I have mentioned to my T that I post on psych internet forum, but never specifically which one. I've also copy pasted one or two things that I wrote here into my journal, so I suppose she could Google some of the phrases and find out which account is mine. But I don't think that she would. She never really asks me any questions about the forum, I just tell her what ever I want about my posting here, and that's it. So I don't think she's very interested in it. I also don't think that it would be a good idea for a T to try and find someone's account on here, not just because it would be a major boundary violation of the client, but because T's have a lot of clients, and I imagine that keeping everyone straight is already a bit of a job, so you wouldn't want to read something on here, and then get confused, and think the person said it in session.

Same here, I think my T could id me if she tried but I rather did not. I think most of them don't have so much time on their hand and may occasionally visit psych forums just out of curiosity but I highly doubt will spend their time trying to figure out how what someone says in session different from what they say on a forum, etc. I think it's also unethical in a way, like voyeuristic and I think most therapists won't do that. Hah, unless it's a new therapist and trying to figure out if her patient is really honest with her or something, I don't know. But not most.

I told my therapist I visit this forum. She just acknowledged it with no further remark. It kind of irritates me in a humorous way. I have a hard time answering some of her questions because I had a stroke and have memory issues. Maybe I will learn things to bring up with her. She does say one of my "issues" is that I tend to over think and research everything. I doubt she would look my stuff up because she would want more than what I wrote, like how I felt, the tone of my voice, and body posture at that time.

My T is the one who told me about this site.

She could easily figure out who I am, but she wouldn't. One, she doesn't have the time. Two, she wouldn't care. She knows I tell her everything that pertains to me anyways.

No. For me, PC is private and just somewhere I can go to see that actually, I AM normal and I'm not alone. The feel of a community is also nice. I just don't see why I would share it with my therapist; it's not relevant to our work. Also a lot of the time I browse the Depression, OCD and Self Injury forums and quite rarely the Psychotherapy one, so I don't tend to think too much about therapy on here.

Also I don't think she would recognise me on here. I talk in a different tone for some reason (idk, typing lol) and there are so many with the same issues as me.

I'm not sure why, bc my T is one of the people that I feel the most comfortable with (and trust) in the world-but I haven't told her, and would feel funny to. If I reference something I read on here, I'm kind of vague about where I actually read it.

I would not like my T to know about this site even though it wouldn't be hard to find. When I first joined this community I posted about stuff that I was afraid to tell my T about. I got a lot of support from people here and it gave me the courage to say things to her. It was a huge step for me. I could not have done it without the support I felt here. I told my T at the end of the session that I went to a forum on the internet and it was the support there that gave me the courage. I didn't tell her what the site was. She jokingly said that she will have to look for it. I quickly said No. I don't want her to know what I am struggling with until I am ready. Also, if she did find this site I know she wouldn't be looking for me but she would be able to tell it's me. I one time went to another forum site and was reading about something personal and to my shock one poster put a link to a forum from PC. That told me that what I write on here is not very private and I stopped posting for a long time. I started posting again recently because I am going through something very difficult for me. So bad that I was willing to take the chance. I need this special place to figure things out for myself and some of the things I talk about I don't tell me T.