[Ad Intra]

With the weather warming up I know I'll be wearing less clothes and thus run the risk of T seeing my cutting scars. She knows about the cutting, but still I;m nervous.

[ThingWithFeathers]

No, I cover up all year long. My t has never asked to see them and I've never showed them to her. I think it's great that you can wear whatever you like! I'm just too ashamed and cover up.

[ejayy78]

My t has seen mine and she doesn't react. She's never asked me about them unless I had just harmed myself and she needed to make sure I didn't need medical attention. It is nerve wracking but personally I thought with my t would be the safest place to not have my scars covered

[luvnola]

My various ts have seen mine and none have reacted, some haven't even asked about them. I hate them, but I don't bother hiding them. I think I was more in to hiding them when I was still actively sh'ing, but even then, my ts didn't react in any way. I had one t on an inpatient unit ask to see when i was being admitted bc she knew my history and wanted to make sure I didn't need medical attention.

[ilikecats]

My T used to ask to see mine pretty often, and she reacted fine. But then one time when she saw the cuts were deeper than usual she sent me to the hospital. I haven't shown her since then. But now I think I'd be ready to show her again if she asked again. I worry about how she'll react too though, because of what happened last time. But before that, she reacted fine to them. I feel like it's good when I show her them too and then see that she is okay about it.

[BlessedRhiannon]

I chose to take control of the situation and asked my T if I could show her my scars. That way, it didn't feel like T was seeing something I wanted to keep hidden. My T told me that she was honored that I trusted her with seeing my scars. Other than that, she didn't react at all, which was exactly what I needed. My scars are very visible, so I know that T had seen them before I decided to "show" them to her, but she never said anything until I brought it up.

[brillskep]

I don't self-harm and never have. I'm glad to hear all your stories about therapists not reacting in any bad ways to these scars, I think that is very important. My therapist recently told me he ended therapy with a client just because he had cut himself and that he would end therapy with any client who had a suicide attempt. I am deeply disappointed to hear this, on a professional as well as human level. Personally I have never felt like cutting would bring any relief, but if I did it, I would not feel safe to share it with my therapist anymore. If I self-harmed and needed help with that I would look elsewhere.

[PinkFlamingo99]

She always asks to see my cuts and tells me I need to go to the hospital. She also asks to see how they're healing because I'm not so great with self-care like cleaning or bandaging.

I think she wishes I would be more open about it and wear less clothing in thr summer but I'm not there yet. She's a self-harm specialist though so it doesn't freak her out although sometimes she says my cuts scare/worry her because of the depth. It's nice to actually have someone understand the SI for once.

I have no problem showinh her my scars because she's seen them as cuts and healing.

I have had other therapists flip out at the idea of my SH and not even want to kniw.

If I remember correctly I sent her a photograph once. Because I got the impression she was curious to see what it looked like. I don't remember how she reacted.

[PinkFlamingo99]

Originally Posted by brillskep

I don't self-harm and never have. I'm glad to hear all your stories about therapists not reacting in any bad ways to these scars, I think that is very important. My therapist recently told me he ended therapy with a client just because he had cut himself and that he would end therapy with any client who had a suicide attempt. I am deeply disappointed to hear this, on a professional as well as human level. Personally I have never felt like cutting would bring any relief, but if I did it, I would not feel safe to share it with my therapist anymore. If I self-harmed and needed help with that I would look elsewhere.

No offense, but your therapist sounds a bit ignorant. Is he older? It's pretty well known now that cutting is rarely a suicide attempt.

[PinkFlamingo99]

Originally Posted by Breadfish

If I remember correctly I sent her a photograph once. Because I got the impression she was curious to see what it looked like. I don't remember how she reacted.

My pdoc actually asked really nicely and respectfully once if he could take pics of my scars for the class he teaches at the med school. I agreed. So my scars are kinda famous, but nobody knows who they belong to.

By the way - I had once severely burned myself and wanted to prove I could take care of myself, so I spent almost 40 euro (45 dollar) on bandages/dressings and ointments and stuff. And she didn't ask whether/how I was caring for the wounds! That really annoyed me - it felt like I had wasted a lot of money.

I'm sure your therapist has seen numerous signs of self harming.

Mine are pretty superficial but come out more as I tan. I have never hidden them. For me, part of the SH is so as the world will know I'm in pain.

[SheHulk07]

I've shown my T the few ones that were visible on my wrists before, because he asked to see them when I told him where they were. Most ones now are along my hip, so they're not visible and those he's never asked to see.

I had one huge sh place before that my old Pdoc asked to see, but that one was almost life threatening and she sent me to the hospital for it.

[brillskep]

Originally Posted by PinkFlamingo99

No offense, but your therapist sounds a bit ignorant. Is he older? It's pretty well known now that cutting is rarely a suicide attempt.

None taken, I agree with you. Thing is, I don't really know the situation or the severity / location / purpose of the cut; I was very disturbed by hearing this and instinctively asked for clarification. I suppose my question reminded my therapist he was breaking confidentiality by telling this to another client, so he didn't answer. This only happened a couple of sessions ago, so I haven't fully processed it yet ... He's 39. It's a shame because he was such a wonderful therapist in the beginning, knowledgeable but always client-oriented, humble and knew he needed to learn from his clients, nurturing and reliable especially in crisis situations ... I hope he just didn't give me the details and I misunderstood.

[PinkFlamingo99]

It's odd though. Cutting is so rarely considered suicidal these days.

Possible trigger:

I have a cut in my wrist deep enough that I had 40ish stitches, and even that was just treated as severe SH.

[brillskep]

Originally Posted by PinkFlamingo99

It's odd though. Cutting is so rarely considered suicidal these days.

Possible trigger:

I have a cut in my wrist deep enough that I had 40ish stitches, and even that was just treated as severe SH.

That surprised me too, that my therapist would terminate based on cutting. How are clients supposed to trust and talk about real issues (which he does expect, much like any other therapist) if any slip-up or serious issue could lead to sudden termination? At least this is how I think about it.

[junkDNA]

He's asked to see them. I have scars still..some of them are raised keloid scars on my arm. Don't think they'll ever go away. I don't SH anymore though...hope I never do it again.

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[PinkFlamingo99]

Originally Posted by junkDNA

He's asked to see them. I have scars still..some of them are raised keloid scars on my arm. Don't think they'll ever go away. I don't SH anymore though...hope I never do it again.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I have keloids too, for some reason they form on the bottom side of my arm easily. They itch like hell for years. The most recent keloid I have is still really growing and occasionally I get a stabbing pain. They suck so bad. I have 4 big ones from wrist to elbow and they pull constantly. It's funny because they're supposed to be uncommon in white people.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by PinkFlamingo99

I have keloids too, for some reason they form on the bottom side of my arm easily. They itch like hell for years. The most recent keloid I have is still really growing and occasionally I get a stabbing pain. They suck so bad. I have 4 big ones from wrist to elbow and they pull constantly. It's funny because they're supposed to be uncommon in white people.

Yeah I am white and pretty pale. The scars are white. One time my coworker saw them and asked what happened to my arm. I can't even remember what I said but I felt so embarrassed.

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[substancelessblue]

After about 6 months of therapy it was summer so I started wearing less clothing but I always wear lots of bracelets so she hasn't seen the ones on my arms. I guess she knows why I wear bracelets. We'd already talked a lot about SH by the time this came around. I wear shorts a lot and she saw some of the scars lower down on my thighs. I remember the first time she looked at them very deliberately with a concerned look on her face which made me feel terrible. I stood up and pulled down the hem of my shorts further, making a point of it. Since then she hasn't looked, I think...I sometimes have new cuts but I try to hide them. I don't know if I want her to see them. I have a lot of white scars on my thighs. It's a confusing mix of shame and wanting her to see. I assume she knows why I wear stacks of bracelets though. Unless she is stupid.

[lunatic soul]

Yes both of them. They reaction was nothing special like they see it almost everyday, many of patients do it.
Okay my former T was mad sometimes and told me we will stop therapy if I do it again but i did and we didnt stop therapy if we can call it therapy...

[PinkFlamingo99]

There's a difference between terminating and referring up. I seriously hope these therapists mean they can't handle it and are referring to another therapist.

I had a therapist who knew I did it (severely) and wouldn't talk about it. In retrospect, she shoukd have referred me.