[Raven1976]

My therapist said she is not a trauma therapist. Not experienced in sexual abuse but she’s mentioned seeing people who have been sexually abused. Maybe that wasn’t the focus of their therapy. I don’t know. Anyway, she does seem very inexperienced. Ever since I was young if I read stories if people being sexually abused or if someone mentioned it may have happened to me I felt very trapped and like I didn’t feel safe in my skin and wanted to escape. I told my therapist about this and she never really said much about it. But I think it seems like it’s an emotional flashback and she missed it or would those just be feelings anyone would have?

[Brown Owl 2]

I don’t know what your feelings mean for you. I don’t have feelings like that when I read such stories. I’ve found that T’s often don’t respond to things that I say that are really important to me, they sometimes just miss things. It might be worth bringing it up again and telling her you want to discuss it?

[Raven1976]

Originally Posted by Brown Owl 2

I don’t know what your feelings mean for you. I don’t have feelings like that when I read such stories. I’ve found that T’s often don’t respond to things that I say that are really important to me, they sometimes just miss things. It might be worth bringing it up again and telling her you want to discuss it?

What type of feelings do you have?

[Therapy reviewed]

What was your expectation of her reply when you told T this?
There are more subtle signs of abuse that are looked for over many visits.. Perhaps T isn't jumping the gun and iswatching and listening for the whole picture..

[InkyBooky]

It doesn't necessarily sound like she missed anything per se. Everyone will have different reactions to hearing about this sort of thing. For example, I did experience CSA for almost a decade as a child, but my reaction to hearing about abuse now (or seeing it on TV or movies) is not like your reaction. In fact, for me it can vary from having zero reaction to just feeling sort of numb and blank. I usually don't feel anything in my body whatsoever. On the other hand, my partner (who was not abused) does have strong body reactions to hearing or reading about abuse or violence. That's just to say that everyone is different and you cannot extrapolate that a person was or was not abused from this kind of information alone.

But if you think there's more to this then you should definitely try to let your therapist know. Therapists are just regular people, not mind readers. If you believe you may have been abused then you should tell her that. Even if you just want to talk about how it makes you feel to read about abuse- see if you can tell her that. You don't have to have all the answers first. Therapy should be a place for you to explore this kind of thing and understand your own reactions and feelings.

[Brown Owl 2]

Originally Posted by Raven1976

What type of feelings do you have?

I’ve had to sit and think about this question. I think that if I read about SA I tend to turn my mind away from it quickly and don’t feel much.