[retro_chic]

I've had this problem with all the other Ts I've seen but it is becoming more of an issue with my current T as she has a psychodynamic approach which is more in depth and less structured than the CBT and ACT therapy I'm used to. My T keeps asking me all these questions and I keep saying "I don't know" all the time because I have trouble thinking of an answer and I get really nervous and flustered. Even when I do know the answer I sometimes say that I don't know. She asks me questions that I haven't really thought about before and I just feel really confused about who I am now. She asked me how I would describe myself and even though I can think of a few things I said I didn't know because I just felt so confused and overwhelmed . I don't really know how to describe it but I feel weird. T has also said a couple of times now that I should be the one doing most of the talking and I just feel like there is too much pressure and I'm a bad client.

[Emotionally Dead]

How long have you been seeing this particular T? It definitely isn't your fault and you're not a bad client, so don't think that. But it's your T's job to make you comfortable and find a way to get you to open up. It's always possible that she's just not the right one for you, but over time you should get more comfortable and be able to open up more. The one thing I would suggest is that when she asks you a certain question and you're feeling overwhelmed by it, I would simply ask her to rephrase or go into more depth on the question and that might help you answer it better. Good luck! Hope it gets better for you soon.

[retro_chic]

Originally Posted by Emotionally Dead

How long have you been seeing this particular T? It definitely isn't your fault and you're not a bad client, so don't think that. But it's your T's job to make you comfortable and find a way to get you to open up. It's always possible that she's just not the right one for you, but over time you should get more comfortable and be able to open up more. The one thing I would suggest is that when she asks you a certain question and you're feeling overwhelmed by it, I would simply ask her to rephrase or go into more depth on the question and that might help you answer it better. Good luck! Hope it gets better for you soon.

Thanks for the reply!
I haven't been seeing this T for very long; I just had my fourth session with her today. I actually like this T very much and I do think she is a good fit for me I'm just really not used to talking about my feelings. The only time I ever do is during T and like I said, my previous therapy experience have been quite different to this one. I think I am going to start writing things down between sessions so I can have my thoughts at least somewhat organised and bring what I have written to the next session. I also like your suggestion about asking T to rephrase questions or go into more depth.

[nervous puppy]

When I've had difficulty answering T's questions, I've asked T to make it multiple choice.
For instance, for a long time I wasn't able to label or name my emotions, or even feel them for that matter. So when T would ask me how it felt when "x" happened, I would say "I don't know". Finally I asked somewhat jokingly, "can you make that a multiple choice question?" and she did. It was soooo much easier! I just couldn't come up with the words for myself.
After that, when she saw me struggling for words, she would start throwing out words for me to choose from.
It wasn't that she was trying to suggest that I felt a certain way, she was really just trying to unstick my brain to get me to verbalize the feelings.
Current T will see this too and suggest words. I'm usually like, "no, no, not that, it's more like this". But it helps to get me unstuck, I guess.

Hope that helps.

[retro_chic]

Originally Posted by nervous puppy

When I've had difficulty answering T's questions, I've asked T to make it multiple choice.
For instance, for a long time I wasn't able to label or name my emotions, or even feel them for that matter. So when T would ask me how it felt when "x" happened, I would say "I don't know". Finally I asked somewhat jokingly, "can you make that a multiple choice question?" and she did. It was soooo much easier! I just couldn't come up with the words for myself.
After that, when she saw me struggling for words, she would start throwing out words for me to choose from.
It wasn't that she was trying to suggest that I felt a certain way, she was really just trying to unstick my brain to get me to verbalize the feelings.
Current T will see this too and suggest words. I'm usually like, "no, no, not that, it's more like this". But it helps to get me unstuck, I guess.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply!

It's not so much labelling emotions that I have trouble with it is more other questions T asks. One in particular that confuses me is "What does that mean for you?". Like she will ask that if I say something like "I feel as though I'm not good enough". When she asks that I really don't know what to say because I'm like it means that I feel like I'm not good enough, what else is there to say?? Definitely going to ask for some clarification on that question! haha

[iheartjacques]

There are no right or wrong answers, just how you feel, and how you see yourself, and how you can like yourself or do life better?

[retro_chic]

Originally Posted by iheartjacques

There are no right or wrong answers, just how you feel, and how you see yourself, and how you can like yourself or do life better?

I don't know how to answer those questions either