[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Does your T talk about what feelings come up for them during your sessions? And if so, what feelings do they mention?

Mine doesn't share it too often, but the times he did he said he was feeling: sad, angry, helpless, proud, frustrated, caring.

[weaverbeaver]

My t has often said she feels sad or angry on my behalf and sometimes she tells me when she is feeling frustrated with me!

[junkDNA]

Sad, very sad, frustrated with me, anger at my parents and other people

[stopdog]

I think the woman tried a couple of times. I told her to stop unless she would explain what the point of it was - she lied and told me there was no point and so I told to stop it. I have no reason to care what a therapist is feeling.

[downandlonely]

I don't see a therapist currently, but my therapists in the past haven't really shared feelings with me.

[Echos Myron redux]

Oh a lot. It's one of his greatest strengths as a therapist. He often shares how he feels about me, my experiences and what's happening in the room. Too many to list but they have ranged from telling me he feels love for me and saying he sees me as part of his legacy, to talking about feeling sad about my experiences, frustrated in the work, exasperated with himself for responding from countertransference and so on. I love that he can be honest and vulnerable in that way with me.

Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup

Does your T talk about what feelings come up for them during your sessions? And if so, what feelings do they mention?

Mine doesn't share it too often, but the times he did he said he was feeling: sad, angry, helpless, proud, frustrated, caring.

Apart from my posts this week. It's not something T does all the time. Normally only whrn something is becoming conscious and intense does it happen. Normally it's me rambling and her sitting listening. Couldn't keep up the pace if it was intense all the time.
But as reflection is very important for the human condition. It's helpful in those times of need.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by junkDNA

Sad, very sad, frustrated with me, anger at my parents and other people

Also... excited, proud, happy for me. Protective

[So..not all negative things...]

[RaineD]

Yeah, sad, angry, frustrated--those were the most common. Sometimes he was proud. Initially, he was mostly just angry and frustrated. Later on, when his illness got worse and he knew we had to terminate, he was sad a lot. So was I. In the end, there was a lot of sadness but also a lot of love.

[TrailRunner14]

He has shared some stories of his life, as he feels it relates to what I’m trying to understand or work through.

There is a connection and a feeling of relationship and vulnerability that I feel value in. What I mean is, him sharing stories that are real to him and valuing me enough to share them with me. I value that.

[Fuzzybear]

Mostly anger and other negativity Once he said something was “moving”

Not verbally but it was sometimes very obvious when they were pleased to interact with me or overwhelmed. The first one was sometimes angry but expressed it with overreactions and defensiveness, not direct words. I think I would have liked if they directly told me how they felt about me and how I came across to them. I asked the more intelligent one to do this but he pretty much refused.

[koru_kiwi]

Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup

Does your T talk about what feelings come up for them during your sessions? And if so, what feelings do they mention?

ex-T was quite transparent about his feelings, even those that may had come up for him between sessions in regard to me, my therapy, or the relationship. these were an entire gamete of feelings from feelings of warmth and love, tenderness, happiness, at one end of the spectrum, to feelings of disgust, sadness, disappointment, frustration and anger at the other end.

usually, i appreciated his openness and honesty, it made him seem more human, that the relationship was 'real' and helped to solidify what trust i was able to build with him, but sometimes i didn't so much care for all his open honesty, because it took away from my therapy. this was especially true when he misunderstood me and my intentions, and when it felt like he tried to make the therapy more about the 'relationship' and what was playing out between us. eventually, towards the end of therapy with him, i started to feel resentful about what felt like him trying to manipulate and control the relationship to get his needs met, one way by overly sharing about his feelings. when i stopped 'feeding into' (emotionally reacting) to his emotions that he was sharing and i did not overly focus on them, he began to feel a bit 'lost' in my therapy and was not sure what direction to take it in. funny thing is, he may have felt lost, but for the first time in therapy, i finally felt like i knew exactly what direction i was heading in.

[fille_folle]

No, my therapist does not share her feelings with me. She is a withholder of feelings.

[starfishing]

My therapist does talk about some of his feelings, on occasion. He's talked about feeling like he was cajoling me to speak, and that sometimes he's felt like he was speaking on my behalf. He's mentioned sadness and wishing some things about my past could have been different. He's talked about feeling proud of me, which was interesting and felt meaningful to hear. And we've discussed his wanting me to have the same compassion towards myself that he feels towards me. His feelings aren't a constant or common point of discussion, but they're definitely in the room and feel like a useful part of therapy to me.

[velcro003]

Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup

Does your T talk about what feelings come up for them during your sessions? And if so, what feelings do they mention?

Mine doesn't share it too often, but the times he did he said he was feeling: sad, angry, helpless, proud, frustrated, caring.

Not really. She's once told me she would be devastated if I committed suicide. Also that it made her sad looking at incubator pictures of me when I was born at 24 weeks.

[LabRat27]

Very rarely. It's a boundary issue for me. It's important for me to not be concerned with his emotions most of the time, both so that I don't feel the need to protect him and so that I'm not trying to act out to elicit a reaction.
There have been a few points when he's chosen to use personal disclosure about his feelings in a way that would be beneficial.
He asked me what I was feeling when I was telling him about a specific event from my childhood and I was like "idk, sadness I guess?" And he told me that that wasn't the feeling that was coming up for him hearing it, and I asked "you don't think it's sad?" and he said what he was feeling was anger on my behalf.
I hate to admit it, but that made me feel good.
He's also said he'd be upset by me quitting treatment/going down a self destructive spiral. Usually because I asked or told him that he wouldn't care.
He's expressed that he's glad I made certain choices/progress.
He will also sometimes confirm for me that he's not feeling something. Like I'll worry that he's going to feel contempt or horror or disgust or whatever, and he'll tell me he's not.