[brokenwarrior]

I have a hard time talking while I am in session. At times it feels like it is physically impossible. Other times I just can't form the words to explain to my T how I feel. Its really frustrating. I do occasionally send emails and other times I write stuff out to bring in and while it helps to get information across, it hasn't help my issue of not talking.

Recently my T has asked me if there is anything she can do to help. I said no because I really don't know what she could do. Any ideas?

[Lexi232]

one thing a lot of my T's have tried with me, is reading outloud what i wrote, instead of them accepting it and reading it. but when its not an actual fear of speaking that causes the difficulty, i dont think it can help(but maybe worth a try?)
(i dont have a fear of speaking, but a lot of my T's in the past thought fear of speaking was my trouble, and not actually the processing things into explainations and explaining emotions without having an emotion label/word to describe how and what something affected me.....)
but... one thing i have found useful, is multiple choice type of responses.. something to choose from, which progresses the communication a bit further than it was previously.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wonder if this might be as a result of anxiety. I have these kinds of reactions when I'm in a stressful situation. It could even be the case, I would suppose, that you're not necessarily highly stressed in your sessions; but you've developed this response to stressful situations outside of therapy & it's carrying over into your therapy sessions. I do know that it can be difficult to put what we feel on the inside into words. Often, it seems, the words just come out sounding silly (to us.) Perhaps you are responding to the difficulty you experience groping for the right words to express your feelings... just a couple of ideas off the top of my head, as the saying goes...

My last T used to keep some stretchy monster toys on a table. I didn't use them. But she said many of her clients would twist them unmercifully during their sessions. Perhaps having something to fiddle with while you are in session would be helpful?

[ThisWayOut]

I have trouble talking about stressful things. I get blocked and choke on the words. Reading things out loud to t helps sometimes, but only if it's something I wrote before session. I've found drawing/coloring helps me distract from the concept of t's focus. Sometimes I've Alsop been able to draw what I need to communicate. Last session t brought paper and crayons and that was very helpful. Would anything like that help you? Or maybe telling t that you are having trouble speaking when it happens?

[doyoutrustme]

Do you do any art? I've found that helpful to start.

[sidney1771]

It would be helpful to understand what you are going to therapy for. Have you established goals with your therapist for what you want to accomplish? If writing somethings down help you to speak, then maybe writing a path to your goal will help you even more. It's just an idea.

Is it a situation where you are shy? Tongue-tied? Embarrassed? Not comfortable? Memories too painful? Low self-esteem? There are several meditation apps available that might help you, including self-hypnosis. You can work on opening up and speaking this way. Your T might be able to help with some of these tools as well.