Annoying T phrases

Thankfully she does not have any weaponized boilerplate platitudes. I think deep down inside she must know I would call it out and mock her endlessly.

She does do the "what do you want to talk about today" and "was there anything else you wanted to talk about" thing but I think that's forgivable given the nature of her job.

1. That's normal.
2. What do you think about that?
3. Any further thoughts on that?
4. What are you thinking?

My old pdoc (the one with the leather) woukd constantly say "fair enough." She was French so I figure either she thought what I was saying was insane or else she literally had no clue what I was talking about.

when we are playing rummy and he is winning... hes always asking me if i like apples. so he can say how do you like them apples. but now he just leaves the second part out and asks me if i like apples. i just say no. lol

"What's in your head right now"

What do you want to work on today?
Everything comes to an end at some point.

I actually really like it when T asks me what I'm thinking or what is going on for me at the moment if I've been quiet. I like the prompt to talk, makes me feel like she actually cares and wants to hear what I say. But I think I understand how some people wouldn't like it.

The thing with MC is that I can tell he's really trying, and many times his analogies are spot on. Plus he's usually good at "getting" me. And his being willing to share personal stuff makes me feel more able to trust him (definitely good) and more connected to him (mostly good, though there was a tough patch of transference in there). But today, I was just like, "Yeah, that's not really the same." I think in the past, I wouldn't have challenged him and just would have gone along with it. But now I'm at a place where I do feel more secure with him, so it's OK for me to be like, "Um, no, you're not really getting what I mean."

It sounds like yours can definitely be frustrating at times. I don't get the comparison between an abusive marriage and infidelity either. Is it a case where he's dealt with infidelity, so he's trying to find some way to relate to what you're experiencing? Still, it's not at all the same.

That would really annoy me, joking about the past transference. Yeah, if it's bothering you, might be good to talk about.

How does that help anyone?

1) How you feel will change
Sure but I am completely unable to imagine a moment that doesn't feel like the current one and anyway what are you some kind of prophet? Sometimes I say "how will I feel later?" And she'll say something like "not the same as now." OMG if I didn't love her I'd hate her.

2) Feelings are not facts
Yes. The facts would suggest that I'm like some kind of hybrid of Jesus and Mandela, only my treacherous low self esteem tells me otherwise.

3) What are you feeling in your body right now?
I dunno. A little gassy? WTF does one say to that? I feel like a cup of coffee and a blanket would be good right now. Can you hook me up?

4) You did the best you could at the time
This just seems like a logical fallacy. No matter what idiocy I've committed she'll suggest that it seemed like the best or only option at the time. Just once in a great while I'd like her to say "OH no. You really must've had your head up your arse that day!" Then I might believe her when she returned to you did your best.

5) That is not the truth about yourself (in response to some negative thing I feel about myself or someone else has suggested about me.)
Right. Because you know the truth about me. I'm little miss fuquing sunshine but I'm just too modest to talk about it here.

Have you ever said that out loud?

Not really. Should I?

I would, but that's just me. Your milage may vary.

"How's that working for you?"

"What are you feeling right now?"
It's not so much her asking me this but her asking me multiple times in one session.

"On a scale of one to ten..."

What can I help?
is this helpful?
What are you thing right now?

Ex-T used to ask me this. Every time she did I felt like crawling under the couch! UGH!!! Made me feel ashamed. Oh how I hated that.

I'm sorry, but that question is ridiculous and your answer is awesome!

I would love to see the expression on T's face if you said that!!

Yes I've also been asked "how old do you feel right now" The childish part of me always wanted to pick some absurd number out of the air. Usually I would say "so that means you think I;m acting like a surly teenager?"

A corollary to "What are you feeling in your body right now?" that my t uses is "Where in your body do you feel that?" I'm all "I don't know." I get what she's doing, it gets me out of my head when she asks that, but still. She hasn't had to do that lately cuz I've been pretty grounded and living in my whole body, letting myself feel things, without her prompting, and it's been good!! But yeah, I used to hate that question. My smart-*** self never did say "I feel it in my middle finger, see?" but I was tempted.

haha the surly teenager part.... during the time we were still doing phone sessions, my t (more than once) told me she could picture me stomping my feet like a teenager. I used to do that quite regularly, stomp my feet at something she would say that my inner 15 year old railed against, when I saw her in person the first year. I'm happy to say that 4 years later now that she's back in town and we're doing in person sessions again, I don't stomp my feet anymore. The petulant 15 yo is still there, but I've learned to recognize her and give her a voice so she doesn't have to act out!

"No, I won't marry you."

The one to ten thing drives me nuts too. My pdoc always asks this.

My now therapist doesn't use the 1-10, but others have (as well as every pdoc). I want so much to ask them to please describe to me what 3-6 feels like.

My T usually greets me in the waiting room and leads me into her office and when we're both settled she usually goes: "Welcome." I never know how to respond! I'm usually like "........ thanks". Or I just smile awkwardly.

Does anyone else's T do that? So awkward!

I'm not bothered by the "What are you feeling?" / "What's happening right now?" / "On a scale of 1-10..." questions. I find them quite helpful because I have a hard time talking sometimes.

Me, too.
Hate this one... :/
I've heard my T greet people with, "Welcome". In fact she greets most everyone that way, besides me. Interesting. I wouldn't know how to respond to that, or if it even needs a response?