Predicting T’s words

I often know what she’s gonna she before she says it. When we’re on a well known topic and she starts talking I know just what she’s going to say down to a particular turn of phrase. Frustrating because I feel we’re just going in circles and it can feel like I’ve “spent” her - she has nothing more to offer me. This is not all the time though and I still like her and how she helps me.

I guess in some ways this is good because aren't we supposed to be internalizing our T's voice to help us when we are stuck? In theory anyway... I understand your frustration though.
On a lighter and super annoying note, I can predict with near 100% accuracy the responses I get to virtually any email : Let's discuss Thursday.
You'd think I'd stop writing by now.

yeah.... I still haven't learned even though I have literally received one letter responses from my t: "k" (short for okay I took it to mean!) which in a way is even worse than no response... at least to me!

I was like that with with T. Occasionally she would surprise me. However I still got something out of it... either A) it was more about me venting and getting her support more than what what she said or B) she might change the way she said something which would cause something to click on miku head

Same here. Now she’s aware that she’s repeating herself or that I won’t respond, but sometimes something she’s said a million times before clicks or clicks differently. I don’t think that means you’ve “spent” her, just that some things are true and tried (or tried and true?) and eventually they’ll make better sense.

Yes I hope that they will click differently. I can just feel my brain shutting off when she repeats herself and I’m waiting for it to be over and continue on.

It would annoy me too. Would expect it from a 16 year old, not a professional.

I agree it’s mostly about me getting something lut of my system and feeling support from someone. I usually feel better and in a lighter mood afterwards.

There are times when T says something that I've heard before. In. The same way Ive heard it before.
I'm also aware of my own repetiveness.
I think in therapy. We need to hear or speak things more than once to be heard on different levels of understanding.

Yes,.......

Very well said and true to my own experience. T also does this thing where he says, "you've heard me say this before . . . ." and then goes on to tell me something he's not said before. I asked him about this once as I interpreted it as something negative towards me, like he was expressing that he'd already said what he had to offer me, but because I'm such a repetitive pain in the @ss, he's saying it again. Turns out it was not about me (surprise, surprise) and what he was driving at was at his age (late 60's), he is experiencing his memory of our sessions less well than he used to.

I don't mind repetition in certain contexts, including in T. There are books I have read more than once, including a couple that I used to read in the middle of the night when I had insomnia. I found them comforting.

I also sometimes feel like I can predict other people's words to me, as it's a sign that I know them pretty well. Some people have also said to me "I know what you're gonna say" but then they get it completely wrong.

I did get surprises from the t’s but they were not pleasant surprises..grrrrrrr.

Matt, have you asked her why she keeps going around in circles? That would be where I would start.

I haven’t asked or commented on it. I’m very bad at saying something that could be interpreted as a critique. I’m afraid that she’ll be affronted by it and see me in a different light. That I question her as a therapist.

Mat it is not about critiquing your T. Its about clarifying an issue, which any T would be happy to do. It can only help the understanding process.