Explaining via email

A lot of the time in session I get caught up in finding the right words to say or I forget important details in a story. I’ll make a point and she’ll ask men she’ll ask for specific examples but they don’t come to me until I’ve already left and thought about it. I think my T gets confused because the details don’t always add up and I can’t remember what I’ve accidentally left out.

I was thinking about sending an email of what I’ve been trying to say but I’m not sure if it would be better to try to explain it more myself in session or just send the email explaining it all.

Thoughts?

yep good idea, I've done it, or you can write it down and read it there

I would do both...write an email and discuss it at your next session, assuming emails are OK with your therapist. Sometimes I've found therapist responses to emails quite unhelpful...either they misunderstand the point of the email, or they are in a hurry and so write something short and useless, or sometimes they take forever answering and I worry about what they are thinking. So I've started just saying something like "I really feel like I can explain this better in writing, but I don't expect a response. I'd like to talk about it next session.

But your therapist might be much better at writing responses than mine. Either way though I think writing an email is a good first step to better communication.

I don’t really expect much of a response from the email anyway so I might try it before our next session and mention that it’s something I want to talk about
I don’t want to have another session spent with me struggling to explain something instead of actually working on it but I also don’t want to take away from any other issues that might come up between sessions that are more urgent either

my T realizes that I can tell her things much easier and much more clearly than in person, and she accepts and probably gets way more information from me from e-mails. I generally email her after sessions (not always) processing whatever happened, and explaining my reactions.

I do that too after I’ve had time to think about it.

I also do that. I don't always process in the moment, so on the drive back home or even a few days later, I finally process it and email my T. Usually, it's something T said that upset me.

I've done it.

Personally, I just write everything down in my journal during the week. I bring my journal to every session so I can either read directly from it and / or refer back to it for whatever I may need. I don’t email my T between sessions. I don’t know if my T would be receptive to email communication other than for scheduling purposes. I find journaling much more comfortable. But that’s just me.

This is my preferred method of communication. lol. I email at some point between sessions with the understanding that there is no reply and that we just discuss it at my next appointment. It has been the only way I have been able to express myself in a manner that makes any sense.

I have done this frequently with T. I sometimes get overwhelmed in an appointment and can't think. So I will send her an email clarifying things. It has worked very well.

Personally emailing helps me if I don't feel like I can say things in person.

I don’t know if it would be too much to explain all of the details- past what we touched in session- and explain all of my thoughts, or if I should explain just the things I was trying to explain while in session...

Write it all out, then sit on it over night and edit it before sending it. Maybe you will feel some parts aren't as important as others. I do that frequently.