[stopdog]

Has a therapist ever said anything that you did not already know or had not heard before?

Not that I can think of, but I've found out things I didn't already know about myself by discussing my thoughts and feelings with him. He just provides a space for self exploration.

[Out There]

I've gone for not the content but says things in a new way. There is knowledge you can get from books and factual knowledge and other types like knowing yourself and ageless knowledge. Some languages have more words for these things giving shades and tones of meaning.

[ruh roh]

I voted "not the content, but says things in a new way" although that's not really right either, but it's close enough. Most everything I've heard before or read--like here on pc. It's the context that might be different--how those same concepts and words are applied to me, specifically. Although more and more I just feel like a factory widget on the therapy conveyor belt.

Yes, she has. I have learned a lot from her! She is like a mentor of sorts to me.

[atisketatasket]

No. In fact I judge their astuteness by how many things I already know that they say, as opposed to them misunderstanding or not getting me.

It is my life. I have done plenty of ruminating about it. Certainly more than they have.

[therapyishelping777]

My therapist always says something, some kind of new way of looking at things, great analogies, tools, ways to think of things.. He is the first "real" therapist I've ever had.. its a little freaky he's too good... scary at time.. He can tell me what I'm thinking, why and how to process in under 5 months.. ugh. subconsious is coming out its scary. He is too ...... good.

Yes. What I mean when I answer that way is that he/they have said many things that I had not even come close to truly "knowing" and internalizing about myself and my life. It is often in the hearing those things and finally truly grasping them that my growth has come. Knowing intellectually and really knowing internally are two very different things. I needed to hear them from that other person, sometimes over and over and over again, before I truly knew and understand and accepted them.

[AllHeart]

Yes, she has taught me a lot. However, for all she has learned me, there have been just as many, "well, no sh**, Sherlock" moments.

[Waterbear]

Originally Posted by lolagrace

Knowing intellectually and really knowing internally are two very different things.

This! I call it the difference between knowing and believing.

[WrkNPrgress]

Yes, There's "knowing" and there's believing. There's also experience. I read a quote recently that "We know not through our intellect but through our experience."

My Therapist has experience of things I am just now learning to navigate. A human being using their own experience to help you guide you in your own makes a world of difference. There's a million metaphors for why one needs a teacher, a guide, a coach, another human being there to help you in your own journey.

I could easily read a book that tells me how to fly a plane but if I ever chose to actually do it, I would need training from an experienced pilot and I wouldn't know how to do it until I'm in the cockpit with someone at my side.

[Argonautomobile]

I don't think I've ever gone a single day without learning something new. Days I see my T are no exception.

[stopdog]

Originally Posted by Argonautomobile

I don't think I've ever gone a single day without learning something new. Days I see my T are no exception.

That is not the same as whether the therapist has said something you did not already know.

[Argonautomobile]

Originally Posted by stopdog

That is not the same as whether the therapist has said something you did not already know.

My apologies--Yes. The therapist has said something to me that I did not already know.

Originally Posted by stopdog

That is not the same as whether the therapist has said something you did not already know.

Knowing and actually learning, understanding, and internalizing are not the same thing either.

[scorpiosis37]

No, I don't think so. I think that is part of the reason I'm not interested in therapy right now. They don't offer any new insights or suggestions; it's just repeating things I already know. Worse, they often think they are saying something new or revolutionary and then become disappointed when I tell them I have already thought of and tried that.

[stopdog]

Originally Posted by lolagrace

Knowing and actually learning, understanding, and internalizing are not the same thing either.

I said nothing about that at all. I disagree with most of that statement and more importantly - I don't know what it has to do with the question I asked - but it was not what I was addressing at all.

You see it one way; apparently several of us see the question differently. You seem to be asking the question very literally, very cut and dried. That's fine, but it isn't that cut and dried for some of us. It is a question that can be interpreted differently than your literal original question I guess. Sorry if you don't like it when we have different interpretations, but that's the way polls tend to go around here. Still love your polls.

[bounceback]

I would say when I first started therapy they taught me a lot I didn't know. Now I only go sporadically and only on occasion will I get a pearl of their wisdom. I have been going so long I know almost too much.

[atisketatasket]

I took the question very literally. As Waterbear says, there is knowing and there is believing. "Do you believe what your therapist says?" is probably another good poll question, though broad.

[RedSun]

I'm going to misinterpret the question too
I choose that she says things in new ways. She offers me a new perspective on myself and my experience which I could not or would not see before. For me, it's only through being in this relationship (my T works relationally) that I can understand and approach myself in a new way.
I've learnt loads. Unmeasurable.

[stopdog]

Originally Posted by lolagrace

You see it one way; apparently several of us see the question differently. You seem to be asking the question very literally, very cut and dried. That's fine, but it isn't that cut and dried for some of us. It is a question that can be interpreted differently than your literal original question I guess. Sorry if you don't like it when we have different interpretations, but that's the way polls tend to go around here. Still love your polls.

I am okay with the answers being to whatever one has on going on in one's head about the question I actually asked when just responding in general with one's stream of conscious reaction to a question - I was responding to your response to my response to a different response - what you quoted me about and responded to had nothing to do with what I was talking to the other person about.

I don't see the therapist as saying anything useful or unique and to me. They do not, in my experience, offer a new perspective on anything and they have nothing at all to do with my internal knowledge or belief about anything. I suppose the woman could say "I think X..." and it would technically not be something I knew because I don't claim to know what the woman thinks - but what she thinks has nothing to do with me and the content of the thought is not unknown as a concept. I may or may not agree with it applying to me and her thinking it one way or the other has no bearing on me.

[Argonautomobile]

Here are some examples:

"Rotating your tires means you change the tires' position on your vehicle--so the front passenger tire goes to the rear driver position, the rear driver's side tire goes to the front passenger position, and so on. It does not refer to the tires' rotation on their axle."

"I think [past experiences XYZ] had an effect on the way you see yourself."

"I don't think one can put [healing from experiences XYZ] on a timeline."

"I think you can get a checking account without an annual fee at [X credit union]."

"That's called a turbine air vent."

"There's some evidence that psychoactive mushrooms can be useful in the treatment of depression."

"For whatever reason WIC does not support the purchase of large or small eggs, only medium."

"Wellbutrin has been known to increase anxiety in certain individuals."

"You have good ideas."

"I think you seem hypomanic today."

"No, I don't think beavers eat fish."

[stopdog]

Those are all examples of things a therapist has told you that you did not already know?

[atisketatasket]

Your therapist talks to you about tires and eggs and beavers? That's kind of charming!