[*doodles*]

I was just wondering if any of you have discovered your feelings (GLBT) while in therapy and decided to come out to your therapist?? I have been seeing this therapist for over a year but we have never talked about sexual issues, well current ones at least (there was some CSA). I have recently been more accepting of myself as being bi and I really think it would be beneficial to be able to talk to her about it (I haven't told anyone aside from PC), but how in the world do you bring that up? Theres no way to just ease that into conversation? Plus I'm no nervous, not sure how she would react, etc. Anyone have any advice?

[notz]

I'm sure there's lots of people here who have great advice. This is a very caring place. One thing that I thought of is to write down what you want T to know and let T read it. It would be good for you to write it all out, too.

Let us know how it goes.

[kaliope]

I am one who believes T's are there to dump on. They have heard everything. Nothing should shock them. So with my T, its like jumping in the cold pool. I just throw stuff out there without much lead up. Its sorta become a running joke now. I will sit down and its "guess what i did now" or "i really gotta tell you something big" and he grabs his pad, crosses his legs, prepares his pen and says "am i ready for this?" and i just blurt it out. the one time i felt too embarrassed to talk to him about something i really felt i needed to talk about, i typed it out and let him read it. if i felt like i had to find a way to bring it up, make an opening for these things i needed to talk about, it would never happen.

[hanners]

I realized that I was transgendered about a year into therapy with one T, about 8 years ago now. I came out to him right away, and he encouraged me to explore my gender further. It was a really positive experience for me.

[Purple Heart]

doodles just bring it up, dont' feel responsible for her feelings. She's a big girl I'm not sure what the issue is with telling her? She's there to hear anything you want to share plus she's heard it all before so nothing you will see will be new to her.

i do not hesitate to tell my T what is on my mind. it helps to keep an open and honest relationship with the T. it also keeps the channels of communication functioning. a good T should be able to handle this issue and to assist you to cope with it. the only time i might have a reservation about telling a T this is if they are a religion-based therapist, in which case i would immediately seek out a new T who is empirically / scientifically based. good luck to you - let us know how it goes!

[Xeneon]

O....doodles she will not think a thing about it. The way you talk about her she will do what she thinks is best for you. I think that it would be good to talk about it with her. Don't be scared or nervous. You can even right on a pieace a small pieace of paper saying I'm bi. So that if you get chocked up, you can just hand her the paper. Then she can help you the way you want her too. Just have a little faith in yourself. Take care Doodles!!!

[CantExplain]

Your therapist is exactly the person to come out to.

[*doodles*]

Thank you all for your replies!
I don't really know what all the hesitation is about. I'm very reserved and put up walls to protect myself so this level of openness about the real me is really scary. T is not religious and I know in my head she would accept it and help me through it, but there is still that worry for some reason. I was never accepted for who I was growing up and didn't really have a voice, so it's just hard for me to be able to do this kind of thing. I think another part is knowing that this would mean discussing this with T and eventually coming out all together.