[stopdog]

Did/do you want to know what the therapist thought about you?

[atisketatasket]

I didn’t ever ask (didn’t care enough to) though some of them told me anyway. That of course is if they were telling the truth.

[stopdog]

I know - I never asked either. I could never figure out how it was supposed to be useful. I doubt the ones I hired ever told the truth about anything. I think they should have asked me my opinion of them more often

[Lonelyinmyheart]

Yes it matters to me, always has done

[susannahsays]

I put other. A lot of the time, I am ambivalent about what the therapist thinks of me. However, probably the most prominent and intrusive symptom of my PTSD is paranoia. At times this has caused me to become fearful of the therapist and for that reason I have wanted to know what she was thinking. Of course, having her tell me what she thinks doesn't mean what she says is the truth. However, it at least gives me more information.

[Out There]

They thought I was quite the villain. On the other hand , I wonder if they liked lattes , so I've gone for that.

'.

[ArtleyWilkins]

I guess yes, but it wasn't something I found myself terribly curious about because my therapists were pretty transparent about what they were thinking about me and what was going on with me. So, yes, because my expectation of a therapist is that they will be transparent and direct with me about everything. But not, "yes, because I have a desire for such information that is somehow not being fulfilled."

I'm guessing not all therapists are that transparent and thus the question?

Yes, I really want to know. But never asked.
I mean I know she'd say things from time to time but you never know for reals....

[Lemoncake]

mmmm pumpkin spice lattes....

[maybeblue]

I care. I wish I didn't, but I do. But I put "maybe if it was pertinent to why I hired them." I don't want to hear every stray thought. But at the same time I let myself be pretty vulnerable in therapy and I don't want to do that with someone who really doesn't like me. And sometimes it might be helpful to hear some feedback on how I come across to people so that I can decide if there is something I can or want to modify. I always want to know the diagnosis because there's always a possibility I might want them to send records somewhere and those things can be important...despite the fact that mental health diagnoses are very subjective.

[tikatikadoom]

Lol yes I want to know everything. Luckily my therapist will usually tell me, if I ask enough times.

[nottrustin]

Yes, I do. I want to know what they really think. They are always so positive and compliment me, I want to know if that is what they really think or what they are supposed to say.

It is nothing personal about them. Both fathers in my life always said one thing but their actions said something totally different. So I trust what nobody says.

[here today]

Yes, I wanted to know what her diagnosis was. Part of what I was paying her for, IMO.

When it got to the point that she apparently couldn't stand me -- glared at me, got superior-attitude, and eventually terminated because she "didn't have the emotional resources" to continue, then I would have liked to have known what it was about me that generated that response in her -- IF she could have done it in an objective way, which I guess she probably couldn't. So then it probably would have come out all subjective blame, directed at me, kind of. Which wouldn't have been helpful. Or maybe it would have been? Then it would have been all out in the open, and her irrationality would have showed, so maybe I could have seen that. . .Hmmm. . .But maybe that's related to why she terminated because "she didn't have the emotional resources"?

I didn't care if she liked me or not. I didn't like her that much. I went into therapy not liking most (other) women, so it wasn't a biggie (didn't like myself, either). I thought/felt it was something that would work itself out in the therapy. . .it never did, not with any of the many therapists I saw.

[SlumberKitty]

I put some--I wondered what the therapist was thinking. Of course I care about the diagnosis too, just because it's part of my health record and I'd like to know but unfortunately most of the T's I've seen haven't been terribly forthcoming at what they think the diagnosis is. But also just personally, sometimes I wonder what they think of me. If they think I am wasting their time. If they genuinely like me. If they are thinking about the TV show they watched last night when I'm talking about something. Etc. I wish I didn't care. But part of me does. Here I am spilling out my deepest thoughts and feelings and I have no idea what they are thinking. Kind of sucks, really.

[velcro003]

I put “maybe,” bc she generally shares her thoughts about me if it is pertinent to what we are talking about, and so far it’s been okay.

[TishaBuv]

This is one of the issues that are most difficult for me regarding therapy.

When I go to any other doctor, I know what their notes say. It’s what I am there for. It’s the meds I’m on. Info like my height and weight. Nothing else regarding opinions about my personality!

I’m curious what they wrote, but would hate to find out. I fear they tore me apart, like my own worst inner voice might do to myself. Or I wonder if they comment that I am really fairly well. I hated that these notes were kept and a mystery to me.

One psy I saw would say back to me everything I told him. I marveled that he was able to parrot it all back to me and I hated hearing my own drivel! I don’t understand what was the point of that therapy. Like if I said I liked birds. He’d reply, “you sound like a person who likes birds”. This was the whole session. It went nowhere. So I assume his notes read, “She likes birds.” Ugh!

If all these notes from many different therapists, are somewhere in my medical record data base for all doctors to see, yikes! I dread that thought and yet think it’s kind of funny.

[precaryous]

Yes, I want to know. But like Artie said, you never know for real.

T greets me happyish and smiling...and I figure she can’t *always* be feeling like that, so right away I am guessing she’s not always being genuine. But I guess she does it bc it’s for my benefit.

She’s always pointing out my good traits or tells me I’m too hard on myself. There’s only one time I recall her judging me. I’m not that perfect. I don’t know if I’d be happy if she called me out on my crap. But she would seem more genuine.

She’s always been good to me, though, and went way beyond what I expected to help me.

[LostOnTheTrail]

Having had experiences with previous therapists where they seemed convinced that I was insincere in my requests for assistance, it doesn't matter to me what my current therapist thinks. I respect her opinion, but rarely ask direct questions on her assessment of my situation.


She thinks I am doing the best I can, and I agree.

[Xynesthesia2]

Yes but not because I wanted them to like me or something similar. I wanted to know their professional opinion, if there was one, if they see something I don't. I asked many times but they rarely said anything too interesting, often they just twisted the question and kept asking why I wanted to know. I figured that my first T misunderstood many many times, or maybe just projected his favorite views. My second T said in the beginning that he was usually quite open and willing to give honest assessments to clients. But when I asked for one later, he just asked back and then said it's not how he works. It was pretty annoying, why do they complicate this?

[susannahsays]

Originally Posted by precaryous

I don’t know if I’d be happy if she called me out on my crap. But she would seem more genuine.

I think this is one of the things I like about the one I see. She has told me on multiple occasions when I am in the wrong about something. I wouldn't say I am "happy" about being called out as it is generally not very pleasant. I do think it has made me trust her more, though. However, she says she is not judging me and I fundamentally disagree with that because otherwise she wouldn't categorize my actions as wrong. Anyway, I personally wouldn't find therapy very helpful for my own issues if she colluded with me by not addressing them for fear of upsetting me.

[autonoe]

I answered yes, everything. My most recent therapist would ask me every few months to tell me how he was doing, so I asked him once to do the same for me. He just sat there for a second and said something like, "I'd like to see you being your true self." And that was it. Part of me always wanted to know exactly what he thought of me as a client and a human being, and I guess his little statement did give me an idea of what he thought of me.

[SheHulk07]

I picked some, that I wonder what he's thinking which he usually tells me. But in would like to know if he diagnosed me with things other than anxiety and depression so I could learn more about it. I havent asked though. Pdoc said my issues aren't mood related but abuse related, which isn't entirely true so i wish I'd know where they both stood for diagnosis.

[kaleidoscopeheart]

I picked yes, everything. I want to know how I come off to people, both the good and the bad. I appreciate people who are willing to be brutally honest with me.

[SoAn]

I wanted to know, didn't ask though, but when my therapist told me what he thought of me and about his countertransference, I was happy on the one hand and felt strange on the other.

[Rive1976]

My therapist has very strong facial expressions. I have often wondered what they were about.