[Sarmas]

Today i was at my Ts office and it might sound silly but I was bothered by a huge blue ribbon on a coat rack. It was a ribbon for child abuse awareness. I'm usually not bothered by objects but I have a history of child abuse. I know it sounds strange but I looked at it and thought how does that help. I guess I feel like I was forgotten as a child. I know the ribbon is symbolic of something positive but it was a reminder. I was going to bring it to my Ts attention but I don't want her to take it as a criticism and have her get upset. I don't want her to take it down on my account. I'm not sure if that would be something she would do. I just wanted to make her aware how it affected me in case it affects others the same way.

[anais_anais]

Erk. I hear you. That would bug me too.

"You're aware, how nice for you"

It's a show of ally-ship that is unintentionally trivializing. Like those safety pins people were wearing a few months back.

[iheartjacques]

Scented candles coming from the office of a therapist in the next room. Caramel scented. I wanted to vom

My t burns incense to mark the beginning and end the work week and I am the first appt of the week. Anyway incense makes me so angry I want punch people in the head.

[Electric76]

Originally Posted by BlessedCheeseMaker

My t burns incense to mark the beginning and end the work week and I am the first appt of the week. Anyway incense makes me so angry I want punch people in the head.

Ahahahaha!! Me too!!

[itjustis]

Originally Posted by BlessedCheeseMaker

My t burns incense to mark the beginning and end the work week and I am the first appt of the week. Anyway incense makes me so angry I want punch people in the head.

Punch people in the head... HAHAHA! That tickled me

[itjustis]

Maybe you should bring it to your T's attention.
She won't get upset or anything...it's not about her, it's all about you

[CantExplain]

The only thing that triggered me in Madame T's office was Madame T.

[ruh roh]

To me, a trigger is associated with trauma, not something that irritates me. I have been triggered by things around doors in my therapist's office. It's so deep that we haven't been able to get to it yet, now going on 2 and a half years. I cracked one of her doors a few months ago. There have been other times I was triggered while in her office, but it wasn't anything related to her office. It was about the topics we were discussing. I may need to have surgery to a hand I injured during one of those times. It's not safe for me to get triggered. Being irritated or hurt, I can deal with by talking about it and just saying--as I might in your situation--my pain from the past is too deep to be represented by a ribbon. It would lead to a good discussion, I think.

[peaches100]

I felt triggered by a handmade item that my t's child had made for her. It was sitting on the table next to my chair. When I turned it over, I saw it was to my t from her daughter. I never told her it triggered me. I knew it was about my own sadness that my mom and I weren't close like they are. Not my t's fault or anything. I seemed to get triggered a lot when I see anything that shows me a parent and child having a close, loving relationship with each other...it could be on TV, in person, in a book, anywhere that a parent is showing attention, affection, and/or protection of their children.

Oddly, though, I have been collecting dozens of pictures of baby animals with their protective parents. I guess they trigger me too, but something about them is comforting. Maybe because I can see the love and closeness and protection, but they aren't humans, so it doesn't trigger me as much.

Triggered? Not that I can remember. Distracted? Yes.

[stopdog]

I don't really notice the office itself. The furniture is uncomfortable but that is par for the course.

[subtle lights]

My only trigger in the Ts office is the T...But that's enough

[88Butterfly88]

Yes, my pdoc has objects in both her waiting room and office that trigger me. She usually sees me quickly and only keeps me for 15 minutes so I just try my best to deal with it.

[Fuzzybear]

Yes. The therapist and their actions and words.

[Mike_J]

Surprised that people get incensed by incense. Not trying to make fun of anyone, just find the linguistics of the words a tad amusing

[kecanoe]

My t had a game in his office that said something about My Two Houses, helping children accept divorce. Something like that. It bothered the little parts (sad because they weren't allowed to talk about divorce), and made my protective teen mad-WTF, all you need is a game to be ok that your parents are splitting up? I didn't split, but the parts were making a lot of noise. I just told t that I didn't like the game. He moved it immediately.

T2 asked if there was anything in her office that I found triggering at maybe the second appointment. She had a picture of someone making an ugly face that bothered me. She moved it. When she changed offices, the picture did not make the move.

I pretty easily triggered (in case you hadn't noticed). But I really don't see any reason why a t can't move things if they bother a client. I think it shows care for the client's comfort.

I had to watch a podcast recently that had a painting of a naked woman on the wall behind the speaker. I put something else up on my screen and just listened.

IMO, there are plenty of triggers that can't be avoided. I avoid any that I can.

[Sarmas]

Originally Posted by kecanoe

My t had a game in his office that said something about My Two Houses, helping children accept divorce. Something like that. It bothered the little parts (sad because they weren't allowed to talk about divorce), and made my protective teen mad-WTF, all you need is a game to be ok that your parents are splitting up? I didn't split, but the parts were making a lot of noise. I just told t that I didn't like the game. He moved it immediately.

T2 asked if there was anything in her office that I found triggering at maybe the second appointment. She had a picture of someone making an ugly face that bothered me. She moved it. When she changed offices, the picture did not make the move.

I pretty easily triggered (in case you hadn't noticed). But I really don't see any reason why a t can't move things if they bother a client. I think it shows care for the client's comfort.

I had to watch a podcast recently that had a painting of a naked woman on the wall behind the speaker. I put something else up on my screen and just listened.

IMO, there are plenty of triggers that can't be avoided. I avoid any that I can.

I get that. That's how I felt about the ribbon. I looked at it and I thought what does this mean. I've been on this earth for some time and I never heard of such an awareness so how much help could this be for children who are experiencing it. I went through years of abuse without getting help or anyone helping me knowing what I went through. I was strong enough to speak about it to authorities. So yes my family was aware but ignorant. When I saw the ribbon I was so upset. It just brought all of the memories back.

[Out There]

My T's office is adjacent to his bathroom and once someone flushed the lavatory which came very loudly through the wall and set me off - I think it hit my boundaries trauma in some way.

Yes, he had a sculpture like picture near his chair that triggered me when processing trauma. It started 'turning into a monster' and I starting panicking, crying, shaking with terror, etc.

We laughed about it all the time after that incident. A psychiatrist with a picture like that by his chair! He said it never crossed his mind, but he was really glad I told him and he removed it.

I would bring it up. I couldn't imagine anyone taking that it as criticism. Personally, I'd be glad if someone told me I had something that was triggering them.

[cinnamon_roll]

If I'm triggered, it's mostly whatever my T says and/or does...

A few years ago, when I was inpatient my hospital T used to be on call at times. The phone going off during our session due to an emergency was really triggering... Brought back everything: I don't count, I'm nothing, I'm unimportant etc. Even though my adult side could see the necessity why she had to run off and finish our session early. But I was left on my own and didn't have anyone I could process this with. And when I brought it up in my next session with her, she just stated that this is what it is. Not sure whether she was trying to provoke, to get me to show some anger, but it just sent me further downhill...

[iheartjacques]

The caramel smell of the candles from the next office reminded me of a bad time in my life. Sorry I didn't clarify that. Plus incense doesn't bring up happy memories either - I was bullied in a Catholic school and they used a lot of incense in their masses.

[Sarmas]

Originally Posted by cinnamon_roll

If I'm triggered, it's mostly whatever my T says and/or does...

A few years ago, when I was inpatient my hospital T used to be on call at times. The phone going off during our session due to an emergency was really triggering... Brought back everything: I don't count, I'm nothing, I'm unimportant etc. Even though my adult side could see the necessity why she had to run off and finish our session early. But I was left on my own and didn't have anyone I could process this with. And when I brought it up in my next session with her, she just stated that this is what it is. Not sure whether she was trying to provoke, to get me to show some anger, but it just sent me further downhill...

I get that. My Ts phone rings all of the time in session. It's not really triggering for me but really distracting and annoying. It feels as if I'm less important as well because she's screening calls. She has different rings and tones for different people.whenever it rings she looks over and I try to not show that it bothers me. Last session it went off anywhere between 5-10 times.

[Sarmas]

Originally Posted by iheartjacques

The caramel smell of the candles from the next office reminded me of a bad time in my life. Sorry I didn't clarify that. Plus incense doesn't bring up happy memories either - I was bullied in a Catholic school and they used a lot of incense in their masses.

My brother used to burn incense and that smell brings me back to my childhood in not a very positive way.