[angelicgoldfish05]

Has anyone ever brought in papers for t to read? Like journal entries or something? She's been talking to me about my relationship with my ex t and I really think that showing her journal entries would help her understand better. I also have a big stack of emails I could let her read but I wouldn't want it to take up the whole session. Is it possible to leave them for her to read outside of session or is that expecting too much? I get the sense she is already overworked and underpaid. But she must like her job and where she works because she has been there the longest out of all the other t's. Thanks for your replies!

[Restin]

I feel guilty if I bring something for T that will take her time outside the therapy hour, but maybe that's just me and my neurosis. I'm scared T will become overworked, tired of me...etc. If the therapist requested outside stuff from me, maybe I could bring it. Somehow, I have an uneasy feeling about "show and tell", like I'm a little kid bringing something for the teacher to see, and maybe she's secretly thinking " I couldn't care less, brat". So, maybe that's why I'm in therapy.

[lunatic soul]

If she has a time it's a good idea, it could help.

[catonyx]

I have brought in journal entries. No big deal. I'd give T my whole journal if asked lol

[guilloche]

I bring in stuff all the time. Like, seriously, almost every session. Because I have such a hard time *talking* about stuff.

Most of the time I bring in things I've posted here, and let him read my post at the beginning of the session, so we can try to talk about it. Sometimes, there's not much for me to say... he reads, and responds to points as he's reading. He keeps these.

Other times, I write out things that I need him to know, but do not want to talk about at this point. Again, stuff I either can't say, or would find really hard. These are usually awful enough for me that I give them to him as I'm leaving, so he can read them when I'm gone. I literally don't want to be in the room when he reads them!

My T is a private T, so he's hopefully got a reasonable caseload and he charges above average. I don't think I'd want to dump a huge pile of stuff on him, because I'd worry about him reading all of it. But, what I've done so far seems to be working ok.

I don't think it's unusual at all... you can always ask your T if he/she is open to it!

[ThisWayOut]

I often bring things in for a t to read or look at. It's just easier for me that way. You could always ask t if she would be amenable to it. If not, maybe toy could write a "readers digest"version of things and give that to her in session?

[Ellahmae]

I do. She reads them in her "spare time" and always thanks me for the additional insights.

[SnakeCharmer]

To me, asking my T to read a big stack of emails or a journal out of session would feel like an unreasonable request. If it was important to me, I'd expect to use session time. A lot of email and journal content is spent wandering around in the weeds before ever getting to the point.

Expecting a T to read that stuff just seems ... well, when I was in junior high school, before texts and emails, the main way girls communicated in school was in notes secretly passed. Sometimes boys, too. They held great meaning and we'd pass other people's notes back and forth with our closest friends for comment and interpretation. We spent hours at it, largely because we had hours to spend thinking about such things and not too much life outside of school and family. I'd hope my T had enough of a life to say s/he didn't have time for that, but we could talk about it in session. Maybe I'm biased. I'm sure my fave T would have refused a pile of emails. But I sure did enjoy sharing my life that way with girlfriends back when it was the only way we knew how to do it.

[JaneTennison1]

I often send an email during the week. She doesn't really read it but we read it together in seassion and discuss. I think it's a good place to start some days.

I don't expect her to read things outside of session, it's more just something I send so I can't chicken out later.

[Ellahmae]

I will say that it's never been longer than 4 pages and I didn't want her to read it with me there. She has also requested to read my journals as I complete them if I would let her. I know one of her clients brings her in 50+ pages a week for her to read and make notes on t refers to it as her homework - that would make me uncomfortable and I'd never go that far.

Originally Posted by SnakeCharmer

To me, asking my T to read a big stack of emails or a journal out of session would feel like an unreasonable request. If it was important to me, I'd expect to use session time. A lot of email and journal content is spent wandering around in the weeds before ever getting to the point.

Expecting a T to read that stuff just seems ... well, when I was in junior high school, before texts and emails, the main way girls communicated in school was in notes secretly passed. Sometimes boys, too. They held great meaning and we'd pass other people's notes back and forth with our closest friends for comment and interpretation. We spent hours at it, largely because we had hours to spend thinking about such things and not too much life outside of school and family. I'd hope my T had enough of a life to say s/he didn't have time for that, but we could talk about it in session. Maybe I'm biased. I'm sure my fave T would have refused a pile of emails. But I sure did enjoy sharing my life that way with girlfriends back when it was the only way we knew how to do it.

I have taken things to therapy for him to read. I have only given him a book to read outside of session once, when he asked to borrow it. I think that this is probably something that you and your T can work out between you.

[angelicgoldfish05]

Originally Posted by JaneTennison1

I often send an email during the week. She doesn't really read it but we read it together in seassion and discuss. I think it's a good place to start some days.

I don't expect her to read things outside of session, it's more just something I send so I can't chicken out later.

She hasn't given me her email and I'm not about to ask for it. Given the replies I've been reading I don't think I'll be bringing anything in. Partially cause I don't think it's appropriate to ask anything of her outside of session especially when she hasn't offered, and partially because I haven't been seeing her that long and don't have a built up repoire yet and ultimately don't trust her enough yet. Thanks for everyone's input.

[angelicgoldfish05]

Originally Posted by ThisWayOut

I often bring things in for a t to read or look at. It's just easier for me that way. You could always ask t if she would be amenable to it. If not, maybe toy could write a "readers digest"version of things and give that to her in session?

I like this idea if I were her to bring anything in at all. Trouble is I wouldn't know how to give the readers digest version. As it is now, I've started writing a novel length book about it, so maybe I just wait till it's published and give her a signed copy lol. I don't know how I'd put it into readers digest form but maybe I will try to. It's a great idea thank you.

[angelicgoldfish05]

I will say that I think I remember her refer to another client that brought in their journal every week. Maybe I should ask her about this and if we could do that. I am not journaling hardly at all but I used to a lot in the past when all the crap hit the fan, I was hospitalized, etc.
Also I journaled a lot as a kid. It was the only place I felt safe. T asked me where I felt safe in session last week as a kid and I had forgot about the journal so I just told her the field behind my house. As a kid my mom would kick me out of the house cause she was screaming and going crazy and trying to clean the house. I just got in her way so she'd tell me to "get out of here". So I would just go to that field and I guess I did feel safe there. In my journal when I was 8 I wrote I wanted to kill myself because of my mom. I even wrote how I would do it. Little did I know I'd try to do that twice.

[magical loser]

when i used to go to counselling she told me to keep a notebook and write stuff down so i didnt forget for next time. because sometimes i forgot stuff. she read it at the beginning and asked about stuff and went from there...

[ThisWayOut]

I hear you about not really knowing how to do the reader's digest version. I have trouble with that myself. I try bullet-points sometimes, but constantly have to remind myself it's supposed to be an outline and not all the details.

Also, when T's ask about where I feel safe, I tend to think of physical spaces I could actually go to. I would not have thought to mention my art journal (which is where i feel safe expressing things)...

Hopefully you guys can get to a point where you trust her enough to be able to talk to her about all this stuff. It's a tough road to build the trust, but it can be worthwhile.

Good luck with T.

I regularly bring stuff I've written for my t to read. I think for me it's a bit of a cop out, rather than saying how I am feeling to him. I am in the process of filling toxic waste containers, which I am doing on a PowerPoint document. I use bullet points and some images. I can't say some of the stuff out loud yet. I also took my 3 teddy bears in to my t a few weeks ago. My t asked me why I had brought them in, & I'm still not quite sure, but had a need too. Just do what works for you. Xxx

[junkDNA]

my T bought me 2 journals and i would write in one then next session give it to him to read before/during the session and he would keep that one and i would take the one he had and write in it and we would trade them out. it helped me a lot because it helped me talk about things i couldnt bring up myself and also i have a much easier time expressing myself through writing. we moved past that and i am now more able to bring things up myself and express myself verbally. i also email him articles and things i find on the internet or just my thoughts and he reads those but i dont know what hours of the day he does that. i think you could just ask ur T if it's ok. i wouldnt expect her to do it at home or anything but she could read them piece by piece in sessions and you could talk about them as she reads them

[ScarletPimpernel]

***TRIGGER WARNING*** (Just in case...)

I've given some things for my T to read. I've given her some psychology papers I wrote in college, actual research I conducted in college, and parts of my SUI note (I gave her 5 put of 55 pages...). She used to assign me homework and I gave those to her too. I have also written her many many emails (on average 2 a week).

I have cut down immensely on what I give her to read. It's not fair to her. She doesn't have the time and she's not getting paid for it. Imagine if all your T's clients gave her 5 pages to read a week. My T is a teacher too, and already has to read her students' papers.

You can always ask, but I would keep in mind that she has her own life and respect that.

[stopdog]

I don't think taking stuff or giving the therapist stuff to read is a big deal. I also doubt if every client is at the same place so not all of a therapist's clients are going to do the same thing at the same time. Therapists can take care of themselves and surely have the ability to let a client know if things like reading stuff is getting out of hand.
Also, professionals of all types do work various hours that are not strictly 9-5. I sometimes teach and grade papers and write letters of recommendation and do my own scholarship and appear in court etc. all in the same week. It is not every week, but it happens more than one week a month.
A client does not need to worry about being fair to a therapist.

A client does not need to worry about being fair to a therapist.[/QUOTE]

I agree with this. We have enough to deal with, without worrying about our therapists. If we step out of line, we will no doubt, be told!

[LindaLu]

Ive brought in a few things a quarter or half page to discuss in session. But...Without being asked she has taken her own time to research my sport, my minor medical concern, and my field of work. That's what professionals do, and she's an intellectual as well so its probably interesting.

When I was about to reveal even more of my backstory that sounded like something out of a spy novel I gave her permission to search public records on me and my family, thinking she would be somewhat reassured I wasnt making stuff up. She jumped on that.

I wouldnt give her a lot to read outside of session without saying, is this valuable to share in light of my goals? Is this something for which you want to charge a session fee? I wouldn't neccesarily object to paying but dont know it would ever come up either.

[stopdog]

Originally Posted by JoBo

A client does not need to worry about being fair to a therapist.

I agree with this. We have enough to deal with, without worrying about our therapists. If we step out of line, we will no doubt, be told![/QUOTE]

I also believe the therapist steps out of line the client gets to tell the therapist they have transgressed as well. Therapists are not in an authority position over a client unless the clients lets them be.

My T spends between one and two hours preparing for and following up on each therapy session: writing down his notes, reading up on his older notes, looking up relevant research and so on and so forth. (He spends the same amount of time on it even if the client has to cancel a session for any reason - he won't have session notes to write then, but he'll still do all the other stuff.) If I were to bring something in for him to read between sessions, that would be included in that time - I would not expect him to do it in his free time.

That being said, when I have brought things for him to read, he has done so during session time because it has always been things I wanted to discuss in session but had problems talking about. But I could definitely imagine bringing something in for him to read between sessions as well.

In addition to things I have written for him, I once asked him to read part of a txt message conversation on my phone.

[MoxieDoxie]

I link him articles in emails. He says he reads them, partially read them or has not had the time. Either way he always thanks me for them.