[Mountaindewed]

But when my therapist talks about my mom she doesn’t call her “my” mom she just calls her “mom” and I find that kinda weird since she isn’t “her” mom. An example is: “if I can’t call mom before 12:30, here’s the number.” I’ve never had another T talk like that before. I like it when she does it so I don’t want to ask her why she does it and have her think it bothers me. Does anyone else’s T do that? I’m just wondering if anyone knows why she does it.

[atisketatasket]

My therapist does that. (It annoys the heck out of me.)

I think it is to form a connection? Like she's trying to walk in your shoes.

[MissUdy]

I think it’s just the way some therapists talk. Maybe they picked it up when they were training and had to talk about ‘the mother’ and ‘the child’ etc, lots of books about psychotherapy are written that way too. It does sound annoying though.

[*Beth*]

It's common for therapists to do that. It's about connecting and empathizing. I think it can be useful during especially intense trauma work, otherwise it seems unnecessary to me.

[susannahsays]

I've experienced this with healthcare providers, but only when I was a kid. I can also say from having worked in a mental health agency that this sort of shorthand is used a lot because it's just easier to refer to someone like that than to use two or three words to refer to someone.

[JeannaF]

Yes!!! SO annoying!!

[Rive.]

Nah, mine ddn't do that but always very precise in specifying "your".

Then again, I don't think I would be particularly bothered if they skipped the "your". I mean, we both know it would be my relative anyway..

[SlumberKitty]

Yeah, my therapist does that. I never really thought about it. I think it's a way to connect with me?

i think i would hate it if my therapist spoke that way. sometimes you will encounter a doctor or someone in a similar position saying something like “so how are we doing today?”. in this sense “we” means “you” so why can’t those who talk that way just say what they mean? i always want to answer “we’re feeling really miserable because you think there is more than one of us here”. nah, i wouldn’t really say that but i do think that kind of talk is silly.

[ArtleyWilkins]

Yeah, that would bug me. I think some people just talk that way, but it feels so condescending, like being spoken to like a child. I could probably overlook it as one of those weird quirks, but my rolling eyes would probably get his attention. LOL!

[Mountaindewed]

My therapist talks to me like I’m a kid, or mentally challenged. We get along well, but the way she talks to me sometimes is weird. I’m in my late 20’s. I’ve seen the way she talks with other people and she doesn’t talk that way with everyone. She’s the only therapist I’ve had talk to me like that. The last 2 treated me like I was an adult. So I don’t know if it’s necessarily me. She’s offered to let me use the toys she has in her office without me asking and other stuff like that. It’s just at times I feel like I’m a lot more mentally ill then I think I am. I’ve been going to this place for 3 years and when I first went in I thought I was ok. Now I feel like I’m really not.

[InnerPeace111]

At my place of employment, staff was specifically directed to stop the practice of referring to them as Mom and Dad in face-to-face meetings and in report writing because “they are not YOUR parents.” Everyone is now Mr. or Mrs. or FirstName LastName.