Stuffed Animals In Therapy

When I first met T I noticed there was a huge stuffed cat behind her chair. I wondered if one of her clients held onto it during therapy?
It kind of creeped me out a little.

Fast-forward two years and, yes, I brought my own stuffed animal to fiddle with in therapy. First, I tried a stress ball, a small micro plush throw....and then experimented bringing various sized stuffed animals.

I know.

I have left three different sized stuffed animals in her office. Right now I like the largest one...it's about 14-16 inches. It was a comfort to have last week.
Here's a pic of it...it's an elephant.

I'm looking for a new huggable plush stuffed animal now...

Do you bring anything like that to therapy? A pillow? A stress ball?
Do you leave it with T or do you bring it with you each time?
Would something like that creep you out a little?

I have a stuffed wolf that stays in my T's office which is symbolic of my inner child ( my totem is the wolf so I call my inner child "little wolf"). She sometimes goes on vacation with my T or goes home with her on therapy breaks so I feel more connected.

I also have a stuffed otter ( my T's totem ) that my T gave me . she named him "Edgar". Not sure why. He stays with me but I usually bring him to T.

That's really cute, although I don't know what it is. I would feel too embarrassed to take anything like that in.
I have always meant to ask people, how did you come to bring a stuffed toy in? Did you bring it up? Did T suggest somethign like it? Was there a big discussion about the toy?

That's really cute. My totem is the Snow Leopard and I've often thought about getting a cuddly one , but if I did I'm not sure I would take it to therapy , but I think they do partly represent and reflect our inner child.

I brought little wolf in and explained that it was little wolf and I wanted little wolf to please stay with my T. That was that though I have to remind her at break time to bring little wolf with her. When she gets back she will often send me a pic of little wolf on the beach or something.

Edgar I specifically asked for. For a period of time my T was texting me each night while I struggled with some deep trauma stuff. She is not very techie and after some months decided that not putting her phone away when she got home in the evening was stressing her out. So she decided to stop all evening texting etc not just with Mr but everyone except her husband and kids. It was a hard adjustment and we've been working on ways for me to find the same comfort without the texting. I decided a stuffed animal would really help and asked her to pick one for me ( I said I'd pay for it but she didn't ask me to). It turned into another discussion because it took her over a month after I asked to find the "right" one. As hoped for he does help me feel loved and connected without the texting...

We do something like that with T's little ceramic giraffe. She lets me borrow it when she's away to help me feel connected. She actually asked me to look around the room a pick something to borrow. I chose the giraffe because it seemed the most portable. I sit it on my entertainment center when she's away...so it's easy for me to see.

How neat you both have your own totems.

I have a little black doggy stuffed animal that I've had since I was 2 years old (my grandma gave it to me, the one who practically raised me) and I've brought her with me to therapy in the past. I can't believe she still looks this good 51 years later. She's gone to college with me, spent a couple summers at the grand canyon with me, has been through countless moves. I love her. She has bells sewn into her ears, but I chewed them so hard when I was a kid they are flat and no longer jingle, I never took them out though. I couldn't bear to cut open her ears. She is precious to me!!

Yeah it was cool when I found out. I'd been in T with her for over a year before I started telling her about the wolves that have been visiting me in dreams since I was small and the guidance they give me. I have only ever told a few people about them in my whole life. I told her I view the wolf as my totem and guide . she seemed intrigued but didn't say too much.

My first year or so of therapy was relatively superficial. I wasn't sure I wanted to get into the deep trauma stuff. Then I had a dream about an otter and it felt the otter was connected to her and in the dream I felt very very safe and at peace. That made me feel safe to start trusting her with the deeper stuff.

When I told her about it her eyes got super wide and she told me that the otter is her totem and she has been having dreams where the otter gives her messages since her early twenties. That was part of why she went into therapy herself before deciding that was what she wanted to do with her life. She thought she might be going nuts but she wasn't....

Since then the otter shows up in my dreams too. I often feel bad that I've "contaminated" her totem but she says she is happy to share him.

Wow 51 years. I used to have a toy cat that I had since was very young but my mum shamed me into throwing her out when I was 14 or 15.

There is nothing wrong with it that I can think of, although it would not be something I would find useful. One of the things the two I see now both do well for someone like me is that they have no stuffed animals or toys or things in the office. I tried out one who had a collection of seriously creepy stuffed bears. I found it unpleasant and weird, but I have heard of those who would like such a thing.

I had a stuffed Tigger that I got when I was 3 and it was my best friend. I would even share my meals with him. But my mom decided for some crazy reason that I couldn't have him anymore and threw him in the trash when. I was 8.

The stuffed animal in the picture is an elephant. "Ellie."

I felt embarrassed, too. I brought the animals in a tote so no one else would see them.

In a past therapy I brought in a throw pillow.

It started because I noticed my anxious fidgeting was fraying the arm of CurrentT's love seat in her office. If I remember right, I brought up the possibility of bringing in something to keep my hands occupied. We have had a few conversations about it. I asked her if she owned stress balls, pillows or animals...something for the client that fidgets. She said she has in the past but not in this office.

The first thing I brought in was a "brain" stress ball that I got from Psych Central. I left it on the side table but it was gone within two weeks. T didn't move it, so probably another client liked it, too.

Next I brought a small tiger that I liked. But I noticed that my anxiety almost caused me to rip the poor thing's head off on a few occasions...so I brought something a little larger the next time...a horse named Faris. If you squeeze Faris, he "neighs" and then you hear the clippity clop of cartoonish horse hooves. T loves Faris....the sounds he makes..makes her laugh.

The tiger and Faris are still at her office...but I brought the elephant next. The elephant is sooo plush and huggable. And he's big enough...that I don't think I'm going to damage her.

T has a Raven (her totem) stuffed animal on the top bookshelf that looks down on the room. I told her a long time ago that I didn't like Raven looking at me, and she moved it to the other side of the room back then. I hadn't seen it of course since she moved but now I see it again every time I'm there, it's looking down at the couch again, but it doesn't phase me anymore, for whatever reason.

Oh no. Thats awful.

I do find it interesting that hugging something brings comfort.
I don't hug things even when alone, I can't imagine doing it in the presence of a therapist.

I'm totally unashamed. My 40 year old self waltzes down the hallway holding Edgar in my arms. It helps that I am pretty small and often mistaken for a tween. I would get more weird looks if I looked more adultish possibly. But I'm not sure I'd care even then

I don't think there is anything to be ashamed of.
Hugging things just does not do anything for me personally - even if someone didn't see. The reason I would not do it around the therapist is because of how very unsafe it would be. I need to be able to fend against the woman - hugging something would completely interfere with my ability to get away.

i have bought stuffed animals for my Ts office. he has 3 in there. i named them all and he calls them by their names. very early on in our therapy he gave me a stuffed animal moose. i still have it. i didnt ask for it or anything, he just said it was for me. he said it was a transitional object. ive slept with it for the past 5 years... i dont feel ashamed about that. it may be weird to some since i am 28 years old. but a lot of my unsafe feels come around at night, and holding the moose while i sleep helps me feel safe. earlier this year when i was skyping with my T i showed him the moose and T noticed his antler had come off. it came off years ago and i always kept it. T suggested i bring it in so he can sew it back on. so i did. it was funny to watch T sew it back on and say he was giving him surgery.

I had several dolls and stuffed animals growing up. My mom liked to clean and many times I'd come home to find my entire bedroom cleaned and rearranged. For some reason I didn't notice the stuffed animals disappearing. I found some of them bagged in the attic. I don't know why I didn't take them back to my bedroom because I was very attached to them.

After a time, my mom would convince herself the animals surely had moths by now, and threw them away.

I did save one teddy bear. I still have it.

I bought the small tiger for my daughter but she eventually didn't want it.
It used to "grrr" really cute when you squeezed it but it's been broken for years.
These other two animals I bought for myself.

If I didn't have a wife and 4 dogs in the bed already I'd totally sleep with Edgar

I found out something interesting in my 40's. When I was inpatient I noticed a patient carried her bed pillow around for comfort. I tried it- and it worked for me...especially when I am anxious or upset. I hug the pillow against my cheek..and I find it soothing.

You know how small babies have a rooting response when you brush their cheek? I am just guessing, but I think my comfort has something to do with that instinct. This may be TMI, but at bedtime (not in therapy) I also hold the blanket sorta snug against my lips...and find it calming. I almost feel like Temple Grandin sometimes...how she discovered pressure against the body can have a calming effect.

I was embarrassed at first, too....but figure my T has seen and talked about stranger things. If it helps me and does not harm me..or contain many calories ...I'm all for it.

One of the ones I saw many years ago had a collection of stuffed Eeyores. They were everywhere - back of the couch, on the shelves, in a basket under the end table, etc. I only saw her once, and it wasn't going well, but I didn't yet have the confidence to walk out on people, so I counted the Eeyores - 32 of them. That is a lot of Eeyores. And they were all looking at me!

Both of mine have stuffed animals in their offices - one displays them as gifts from clients, the other often works with children. No. 2 has an Eeyore among her animals, along with other Pooh characters, and when I mentioned the Eeyore-phile therapist she said, "Wow. Something must really have been going on there." I mean, is he really a good stuffed animal for therapists' offices? You know, since he's depressive and gloomy and all?

eta: as for the original question, it doesn't interest me. One of mine offered to lend me one of her stuffed animals when I was going in for surgery, but I refused. I prefer holding living beings.

I think I read a post somewhere that says you nibble puppy's ears...

Oh my god, I know I shouldn't, but I just laughed so hard I cried reading about the Eeyores in that therapist's office.

I actually like Eeyore myself and have a stuffed one at home and some other stuffed animals, but a whole collection of just Eeyores is definitely ... different ... for a therapist's office ... wow!

My T collects giraffe everything...stuffed animals, giraffe-patterned book mark...one client even found giraffe-patterned duct tape to give to T. That made me laugh.

I asked T, do you really like to collect giraffes...or did you figure your clients might want to give you something...and you randomly picked giraffes?