What happens when you cry in therapy?

When I tried to explain something to my therapist, I choked-up and got weepy. The therapist kept asking me things like "what are you feeling?", etc. I couldn't answer her questions - partly I was too choked-up and partly I didn't know why specifically.

Is that typical practice in therapy? It seemed that the therapist wanted me to understand why I was getting so emotional. I very rarely cry. The last time was probably six years ago. I feel like it is progress. I feel a bit drained, but I was already tired from the flu. I'm not sure if I should be doing something special like examining my feelings. I think rationalizing emotions is difficult.

It's been standard practice in 2/3 of my recent therapists. The other one would want to hug me, which made me stop crying, fast.

It depends on why I'm crying. Most of the time it is a bit of a mystery. The tears just sort of come at the oddest moments, so often T will ask me what is going on, what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling, what set the tears off. It's important information usually because generally something pretty important has been triggered and understanding where that is coming from is part of the work.

Other times the cause of the tears is obvious: grief over the loss of a loved one, worry about my husband's health . . . At those kinds of times he just lets me cry. He might hold my hand or something, but those aren't times that really require much processing; I'm just overwhelmed by a current situation that's pretty obvious.

I cried almost constantly in session so it was no big deal.

I assume if it ever happens to me, it will portend the end of time.

But the therapist has said if a client cries, she comes and sits next to them or stays across the room depending on the client and will either gently (her word) talk or silently sit with and witness for the client (again her words) until the client is ready to talk again.

I think T figured out if she acknowledges in any way that I am crying I immediately stop and bury my feelings. So the few times I have cried she continues on with what we are talking about without acknowledging what is going on.

I've never cried in front of therapist. I never really connected with the ones I've seen and didn't talk about anything really emotional.

I had psychiatry appointment a few months back, however, which was pretty much full on crying for the entirety of the appointment (~30 minutes). Psychiatrist was awesome. Moved kleenex box closer to me, talked to me like a normal person, and then mentioned (at next appointment) that he had been thinking "a lot about [me] and [my] situation."

I've also been really close to crying in a few different appointments with primary care doctor. That has gone less well (my fault, not hers). My voice gets really obviously whiny/embarrassing and, a few times, I've just shutdown completely (repeating same phrase over, no eye contact or ability to maintain conversation, heavy eyelids, etc.). When that has happened, doctor has just stopped asking questions, talked slowly and quietly, and usually gives me a few chances to pull myself together before making arrangements to talk later because she "can tell this is hard for [me]." It is nice, respectful way of handling it, I think (instead of shaming me for being weak/stupid/annoying and/or trying to get me to do more then I actually can at that point in time).

My T holds my hand while I am crying. She will gently talk to me. Tell me that she is there, I am safe, tears are ok. We have more hugs in the sessions where I cry.

I have only cried once in therapy, and it was with my therapist at university a couple of weeks ago. It was a pretty major breakthrough for me, as I finally released some feelings I had been holding onto for far too long, finally allowing myself to be vulnerable and showing the true hopelessness I feel when it comes to my coursework and the fear that I won't be able to finish my degree. When I broke down in tears, she moved her chair over to sit beside me so she could put her arms around me, and I covered my face with my hands as she held me for several minutes. She was stroking my back and softly speaking loving words the whole time. It was very healing, especially as I come from a family where crying only gets you uncomfortable silence or some kind of judgmental response.

My T didn't acknowledge it (which I am thankful for). I think she understands that crying has never been a safe emotion to show in my life so if she acknowledges it, I will stop or feel like I'm "bad." I've only cried once though, so maybe it was a fluke.

I had therapy yesterday and I definitely got choked up and had to hold back. Mainly because I have trouble showing sad emotions and being vulnerable. But yes, its normal. I think she was trying to get to the root of pain I've blocked for years.

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When I cry, T usually asks things like ''what are you feeling'', ''what makes you cry'', ''what do you need''.
Sometimes she just let me cry for a while and let me know that she will wait for me to start talking.

T usually asks what's making me sad.

I haven't straight up cried but a couple of times, I've gotten choked up and my voice has wavered.

My therapist's standard question to me at those times has been...."What is that emotion?".

I don't know if she thinks I'm way too dumb to link sadness with crying (I wasn't exactly talking about happy stuff at that time) or if that's really her usual question to all clients when it looks like they're about to cry. But, either way, the sheer nuttiness of that question has made my tears go back in very very fast.

Usually, I've just looked at her and said "uhh...sadness?", feeling like maybe there's some other answer I should be checking off on this particular multiple-choice test.

I felt very ashamed of myself in the immediate aftermath of the crying, because crying is something that is implied to be shameful in my family. But once I was able to come to terms with the fact that I did cry, and that my therapist comforted me instead of making me feel bad about it, I realised just how healing the whole experience had actually been. I cried, and at the time it actually felt safe to do so, even if I was overcome by the usual shame after I had pulled myself together. I needed time to process it, I suppose. I'm so glad it played out the way it did, I really needed that experience. I need to learn that tears are a healthy emotional response, not something that makes me "bad" or "wrong" or similar.

It would be a real blessing to be able to cry in therapy.

If I were to cry, I would need an EMT to revive her from shock.

Haha my T has joked that she'd be in complete shock if I cried during my session. My uncle is an EMT and works in our county...maybe I should have him on standby during my sessions from now on

I cry pretty regularly w t, that's just howci am, very emotional. She takes it in stride maybe pushing the kleenex box closer to me if i haven't already grabbed it. I always apologize for crying cuz i still haven't internalized that it doesn't make me bad.

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LOL same. I never cry. Not in therapy, not in real life.
I always notice the pack of tissues next to the couch but except for blowing my nose I've never used them and I probably never will.

I cry a lot, but my therapist doesn't say or do anything different. She would probably be the same if I told her what I had for lunch. I don't leave much doubt as to why I'm crying, since I talk right through it all, so I guess there's no reason for her to ask.

Thanks, for all those replies, everybody It gives me some perspective on the process.