[stopdog]

Have you ever had what you believe to be an emotional meltdown at the therapy appointment?
This poll should allow multiple choice answers

[brillskep]

I haven't, but maybe my threshold for what qualifies as an emotional meltdown is too high.

I can't do polls on my phone but will answer. I have had emotional meltdowns more than once with t. They are not pretty but I feel better afterwards. She does not attempt to comfort me or talk over me just lets it happen and patiently waits until i calm down. My emotional meltdowns are limited to some stomping of my feet and hysterical crying. I hate that word hysterical.

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[Ellahmae]

I have them frequently. Mostly I curl up in a tight ball and shake, cry, and possibly scream. I can't breathe either she always comes over and gets me out of what I'm stuck in. Calms me down and soothes me.

Ah! Thanks Stopdog. I'll copy what I wrote on the other one here.

Pretty much almost everything on the list at one time or another, sometimes more than one of them at the same time. Crying, dissociating, visibly physically shaking . . . and oh, my favorite . . . full out hyperventilating. That one was pretty horrible. My T had to talk me through slow breathing into a paper bag (he actually keeps them on hand because as he reassured me, I wasn't the first person who had gone through that). I remember with my 2nd T something set me off and I was terrifyingly stuck on the edge of dissociation and absolute sobbing to such a degree that he considered taking me directly to the hospital because it went on for a LONG time.

[atisketatasket]

I've had a major panic attack in session once, so, yeah, I did once shake all over the place. Otherwise I barely move.

I put the sit up one. I'm not very demonstrative in session. I have been angry once and raised my voice slightly and I have fought back tears in the same session, but that's it.

[Argonautomobile]

Very first session, did most of this. Full-on existential breakdown. Extremely humiliating. It happens, though. If you wait long enough (years?) it becomes funny. Comedy=Tragedy+Time

I've also been agitated enough to actually frighten the therapist.

[AllHeart]

I have become mute, several times. I also cry a lot during sessions but have never reached a sobbing status with it. It's like tears just run down my cheeks while I'm talking.

[junkDNA]

yes, some of them were sobby snotty messes. some of them were dissociating.

No. Never. Maybe that is why he terminated me.

Never had a meltdown, but plenty of panic attacks. Guess therapy is a good place to be when that happens, because I am easily talked out of them. I had one where I was amped and ready to go to the ER because I thought I was dying of a heart attack. I hate that the symptoms are so similar!

Ive become mute, and

Yes - in my therapist arms I would melt down uncontrollably:

crying and weeping

curl up on the couch shaking

curled up on couch shaking and weeping and screaming in pain

and was always
grateful for the physicality, because I did not have a partner or friend to be there for me in that capacity.

[LonesomeTonight]

I've had a few panic attacks, a combination panic/sobbing attack, and some uncontrollable sobbing at various points. And I asked to use the bathroom during one panic attack and did, so I guess that counts as leaving the office (felt sick and needed a minute alone).

I also asked to leave for a minute during a recent panic attack in my marriage counselor's office (and I never have them in there--sobbing, yes, but not usually panic). He suggested that instead all three of us leave the office and go walking in the courtyard. Surprisingly, it helped. I think it took away the feeling of being trapped in the office, of having both of them looking at me, and the fresh air and movement helped. So I did the same with my T the next time I panicked in there. Seems to work better than sitting there and trying to get myself together while my T asks if I want to do some relaxation exercises.

[Out There]

Hmm.. Laughed a little hysterically once , became a bit mute , near to tears a few times. But I'm quite reserved , and being British maybe we stifle our emotions ( stiff upper lip and all that ). I did work with a T from another culture and we discussed this.

[brillskep]

Oh, now that there are options, I have indeed gone to the bathroom to shed a few tears once (less than a minute) and I became unable to speak a few times (maybe 5-10 times in 6 years?). But for me, those are not emotional meltdowns.

[awkwardlyyours]

This is actually how I do it -- I sit upright and do not move much. A slight hand gesture is an emotional outburst for me.

Plus, add in a dose of 'Over my dead body, will I give her the satisfaction of feeling like she can witness (or shudder, think she can evoke) any real emotion in me'.

Not sure why I'm currently treating therapy like a fight to the death with my therapist but well....that's where I'm at.

It is kinda fun I should say -- she repeatedly asks about our 'relationship' and I give her answers like how she has no real effect on me, which I see (with utmost pleasure) make her crestfallen.

Very juvenile and all that yes but also sigh....very very satisfying!

[velcro003]

I suppose I should have put other, as I don't really sit upright-but I do sit as far away on the couch as possible from T, rarely look at her, cover up with a pillow-but my affect is pretty flat. I can't imagine EVER crying in therapy. I hardly ever cry on my own as it is (as in almost never), and it is almost always when drinking.

[Pennster]

Yes, I've never thought of it as an emotional meltdown before, but I have done my share of uncontrollable crying. I guess that counts as a meltdown! Though I also see it as just an understandable response to being sad, and to thinking of a time when I had an awful lot to be sad about.

[Myrto]

Never had a meltdown. Never cried in therapy. I've been angry and therefore unable to speak because of that anger but that's it.

I voted "other" because there wasn't an option for "no". Sometimes I wonder if this is a problem for me that gets in the way of therapy being more effective, that I hold myself together so much and don't let my guards down enough in session. With my most recent therapist though (that I fired less than 2 weeks ago), I believe it was also that I did not have a good fit in him as a person I would feel really comfortable letting it go with. I never even cried with him. I know I can do that with people I really trust and am close to but never felt that way about my last therapist; we also had a lot of personality and emotional incompatibilities that had become clear with time. One reason why I decided to terminate with him. I would really like to have a therapist one day with whom I can experience the kind of meltdowns described here although knowing myself, I'm certain it would take a lot for me to get there.

Is this a trick question?

Isn't this what therapy is for?

So we can be vulnerable and get in touch with bottled up emotions to help us heal and relate better to ourselves and others?

Yes, I have ...

And while the rest of us are openly sharing, I wonder if the creator of this poll is willing to share whether or not they have?

By the way, I selected "Other" since all of the above wasn't included as an option!

Sincerely,
Pfrog!

[stopdog]

It was a requested poll - I was asked to make it.
It allows for multiple responses - you could have checked each of them.

Originally Posted by Pfrog

Is this a trick question?

Isn't this what therapy is for?

So we can be vulnerable and get in touch with bottled up emotions to help us heal and relate better to ourselves and others?

Yes, I have ...

And while the rest of us are openly sharing, I wonder if the creator of this poll is willing to share whether or not they have?

By the way, I selected "Other" since all of the above wasn't included as an option!

Sincerely,
Pfrog!

This came up because of another poster's distress over what had happened in their own session. Someone else thought it might be an interesting poll question and I suspect might be reassuring to some who feel embarrassed and mortified when they have these kinds of responses during a session. SD is our resident poll creator, so . . . Thanks SD. It's a good question.

[awkwardlyyours]

Originally Posted by Xynesthesia

I voted "other" because there wasn't an option for "no". Sometimes I wonder if this is a problem for me that gets in the way of therapy being more effective, that I hold myself together so much and don't let my guards down enough in session. With my most recent therapist though (that I fired less than 2 weeks ago), I believe it was also that I did not have a good fit in him as a person I would feel really comfortable letting it go with. I never even cried with him. I know I can do that with people I really trust and am close to but never felt that way about my last therapist; we also had a lot of personality and emotional incompatibilities that had become clear with time. One reason why I decided to terminate with him. I would really like to have a therapist one day with whom I can experience the kind of meltdowns described here although knowing myself, I'm certain it would take a lot for me to get there.

Umm...yeah, this exactly. I haven't fired my therapist but I'm wondering if my inability to have a "meltdown" (or rather really letting go) has to do with a bad fit between me and her -- it's been almost a year and my guard is mostly up with a few cracks here and there.

Ugh.

Sigh.