[20oney]

What is your therapist like?

I find mine really intriguing, they seem to have a really wild side which for some reason or another - fascinates me. She seems to get it, like she is really able to understand my mind a lot better than me, well sometimes. She's fairly easy going and is always up for a bit of a joke around with me which is good and also not great because it allows me to continue in my hiding efforts.

I say it a lot, that therapy doesn't make a difference to my mood, but I can see myself progressing through life I suppose. Depressingly, getting through with a lot of help!

My T is intelligent and calm. He sometimes jokes but is serious too. He's very thoughtful. If I ask him something or he wants to gauge his reaction to something he'll pause and notice what is happening for him rather than jumping into an answer. He slows the pace of everything which is good because I can go at 100 mph if I have nobody to slow me down.
The best things about him for me are his consistency and integrity. He always does what he says he will do and he doesn't let me down. He understands the importance of stability and trust.

[feileacan]

My T is emotionally very stable and tolerant. He has been able to take anything I've thrown at him - anger, frustration, acting out - without getting defensive and without any punishment and retaliation. He is also very motherly, the most motherly person I've had in my life. He is not as intelligent as I am, neither does he think or grasp things as quickly as I do but that's not important for me - I don't see him for having intelligent conversations but rather to engage emotionally and he is good in that.

[satsuma]

Originally Posted by feileacan

My T is emotionally very stable and tolerant. He has been able to take anything I've thrown at him - anger, frustration, acting out - without getting defensive and without any punishment and retaliation. He is also very motherly, the most motherly person I've had in my life. He is not as intelligent as I am, neither does he think or grasp things as quickly as I do but that's not important for me - I don't see him for having intelligent conversations but rather to engage emotionally and he is good in that.

Feileacan, I wonder if we have the same T!
My T is like that too. I'm really lucky to have such a good T.

[lucozader]

The only description that comes to mind right now is "infuriating"... Which is a completely unfair appraisal and says more about me than it does about him.

ETA - Okay, okay. I shall attempt to do him justice. He is clever, and insightful. He gestures with his hands a lot. He's good at knowing when to speak and when to let the silence linger. He likes to point out what I'm doing physically - sometimes this is really annoying, it has also been enlightening. He holds our boundaries well. The only self-disclosures I get from him are honest reflections of his thoughts and feelings, when he feels that they'll be useful to me - or when I ask. He doesn't avoid my questions, but he does think carefully before answering. He's not one of those people who exudes empathy and kindness. But he's not really cold, either. His eyes are blue, or grey, or both. Usually he doesn't wear his shoes. I love him, and also I hate him, and also I respect and like him as a fellow human being. Infuriating.

[benzenering]

My T talks ALOT. I am pretty quiet so maybe he is trying to fill in the gaps. The welcome thing is, no awkward silences!

[junkDNA]

flawed but still a really great person. intelligent, can get too focused on subjects that really interest him. inappropriate humor but done well (with me). ambitious, empathetic... authentic... compassionate...anxious and shy in uncomfortable situations, really loves his kids

[lucozader]

Originally Posted by benzenering

My T talks ALOT. I am pretty quiet so maybe he is trying to fill in the gaps. The welcome thing is, no awkward silences!

That doesn't sound quite right - a good T shouldn't need to 'fill the gaps', they should be comfortable with silence. What does your T talk about? Your sessions are your time...

[*Laurie*]

My therapist is brand-new for me...and I think she's quite new to practicing therapy. She's tall, well-built, African-American, long hair, bubbly, sweet, empathetic, and that's about all I have on her after our first session.

[LadyShadow]

I have been with my therapist for 10 years. I have thrown everything at him and no subject has been uncomfortable or "taboo." There were times of hypersexuality in my bipolar and there were times of low depression, heavy drinking and binging without no judgment.

He is wonderful, patient and kind. So lucky to have him.

[Amyjay]

My therapist is very compassionate but in a detached kind of way, which is important to me. She is very perceptive and is good at reading body language.
She is petite, pretty and pregnant.
I'm not thrilled with that very last part.

[BlessedRhiannon]

My T is peaceful; calm; steady. So far, nothing I've thrown at her has really seemed to phase her. A few times, she has gotten mad for me, but those were appropriate reactions to things I was telling her and I wasn't able to be mad about it myself. She models appropriate reactions for me sometimes. She practices a relational based therapy, so she's always willing to talk about our relationship when needed, and is willing to own her stuff when the relationship feels strained. She's responsive and supportive outside of sessions, and is good with texts, emails, voicemails, and phone calls - basically, she's accessible in whatever manner I'm best able to communicate. I feel very lucky to have found my T and wish I'd found her 20 years ago (of course, then she'd have just been starting as a therapist and probably wouldn't have had the experience I needed). But, I've got her now and I'm thankful that we're a good fit as a therapist and client.

my t presents as having herself all together and very intelligent (which she is) & is known for her insightfulness and wisdom. which she is, definitely. behind the scenes in private she is also really silly, gets angry, goofs off, and sometimes does some od the dumbest stuff, but it makes her laugh, and she is adventurous.we have been in some of the wildest situations together. we do a lot of fun things.

[hopealwayz]

My T is very kind and compassionate. He has a lot of energy and usually comes to work in casual clothes. He has a good heart.

[Out There]

Regular T is highly intelligent , holds boundaries very well and is flexible with a good sense of humour , doesn't self disclose much. EMDR T has a very funny sense of humour and is very down to earth , self discloses more for examples in life and is always interested to learn things. And they both work for me even though in some ways they're quite different !

[rainboots87]

She's calm and steady. She knows when to challenge me and when to hold back. She is kind, intelligent, always accepting, and genuine. She's also beautiful.

[growlycat]

I've been seeing "Kashi" since I've moved here about seven months or so. He is very open with me if I get up the courage to ask. He is very kind, hilarious, and loves that dbt. I wish he had more experience in psychodynamic. He's an lpc so he is not as deeply skilled as my past Ph.D. T's but he makes up for in life experience and his own struggles. I think he experienced Csa himself but went through his own therapy. He seems to have a complicated but happy and balanced personal life. He is super casual in his dress, cowboy boots and a biker club tee shirt today. I really adore him and I hope I am his favorite patient. Hoping anyways

Originally Posted by Starry_Night

my t presents as having herself all together and very intelligent (which she is) & is known for her insightfulness and wisdom. which she is, definitely. behind the scenes in private she is also really silly, gets angry, goofs off, and sometimes does some od the dumbest stuff, but it makes her laugh, and she is adventurous.we have been in some of the wildest situations together. we do a lot of fun things.

Wow it sounds like you know a lot about your T and enjoy her company. Do you spend time with her outside of therapy to have been in those situations/done fun things?

[ruh roh]

I don't really know what she's like. She doesn't share very much, so I only know what she presents in therapy, and I'm not sure that small slice provides enough understanding for me to be able to say what she is like. The most I could do is list some observable things...but without a more complete picture, I don't know what I don't know, and that could be quite a lot of not knowing.

Ive never really truly had a therapist. The closest I have come is to having a second psychiatrist conduct my CBT program. I suppose you could call her then a practitioner of therapy.. She was kind, warm hearted, and full of information to share. Still, as mentioned in another thread, she seemed a bit naive to the experiences women faced her previous generation. She seemed to question why I was in such positions of for example sexual harassment as opposed to realising that was just the way things were back then. "Why would you put up with that?" was the sort of question she would ask with no clue that we generally never really had a choice.

[stopdog]

just some woman in her 70s who sits there

[SoConfused623]

My soon to be ex-T is petite and in great shape. She does a great job with her accessories especially her scarves and earrings. She has brown eyes, a nice friendly face but I do not like her hair style at all. She rarely wears open toed shoes even on the hottest days.

She can be funny at times, pretty smart but will immediately admit if she doesn't know something. She speaks in very short sentences or maybe it's long sentences with lots of phrases.

She is very empathetic, and makes lots of scrunchy faces like she's in pain when you share something bad.

Latest T is around 65 I guess. He's friendly and straightforward in his approach to therapy (and life from what I gather). Rather no-nonsense.

He's outdoorsy -- likes to hunt and fish and hike and bike. He has a black belt in some martial arts that escapes me at the moment. He does yoga. He loves to cook. He's a big family guy with four grown kids and a herd of grandchildren. He has a good sense of humor.

We are completely different in our hobbies, but very similar in our personal priorities, tastes in books and movies, and personalities.

[annielovesbacon]

My T is really smart and insightful. We are both a bit of a smartass (which I like that she can reciprocate my humor/sarcasm), but at the same time, she is able to see through my jokes when I use them as avoidance/hiding my feelings. That is really important to me and she is very good at it. She is very pretty in my opinion, and I like her sense of style. Even though she jokes around with me she makes it clear that she cares. I would describe her as gentle and she thinks before she speaks and reacts.
The only negative I can say about her is that she knows a lot about psychological methods (that's a good thing!) but sometimes gets carried away explaining them and I just sit there and listen for awhile. That's okay, though, I don't mind learning and she recognizes that she talks too much sometimes and it seems like something she is working on.
I don't know much about her personally, just that we are of the same political party (we both have to be careful not to get carried away in rants, oops... we try not to bring up politics lol) and she mentioned once volunteering on a mission trip after I told her I had just gotten back from my own mission trip. So I know she is caring even outside of her profession.
Overall, I really really like my T and I am grateful to have her.

[MBM17]

He's kind. He's about my parents' age.

One of his weaknesses is that I don't think he sees through things. He doesn't notice when I'm being chipper only to hide darkness. He is, however, somehow able to see when I'm feeling sui hopelessness, often before I realize that I was hiding and trying to not feel it. That has been really important.

He doesn't think he has the answers, which I appreciate. I don't handle well being told what to do. He's really humble. He defaults to my own opinion on what's happening inside me (which is probably part of why he doesn't see through what I'm doing), which is SUPER important to me because I'm INFP and very self-aware.

He views the therapeutic relationship as the most important part of therapy, which is also super, super important for me since I've got a lot of past therapy/therapist trauma based in the relationship.

He really helps, which is why I keep going there even though I moved into a different state. He's certainly not a psychoanalyst, so maybe he seems weak sauce, but his strengths match pretty well with what I need.