[NowhereUSA]

so. i kind of posted something in the psychotherapy forum but then i found this one and thought i'd ask here. i wrote something that i'm deciding about whether or not i should share in my group therapy. it's group appropriate, but in it i've said some nice things about myself. to say them, i had to imagine it being a friend and then i made it about me. the funny thing is, i'd believe them about a friend but i wouldn't believe them about myself. i feel like if i share it, i'd be lying because i don't really feel like they're true about me.

i feel uncomfortable about trying to internalize them.

any tips? commiseration? thoughts? i don't know that i'll share it. i probably won't. maybe i'll just show it to my individual t.

[Little Lulu]

What about sharing what you wrote with the group or with your T and preface it with something like "I wrote this about myself and some it is true and some it is how I would like to feel about myself but am not there yet". Then ask for the group's suggestions on how to improve your self-esteem and self-compassion, what works for them, etc.

[NowhereUSA]

i hadn't thought about saying that. still not sure about sharing though. i've debated emailing my t (who is cool with that) and asking if he thinks i should share. he's always trying to get me to be more vulnerable and open :P

[empath301]

I know a good many years back, I'd not say anything good about myself because I was aware of nothing much good about me. Also to say such sounded concieted. But reality is reality and one has the same rights as all others. And today there are a couple of people who enjoy talking with me because I AM a good person. So for example, it is easy for me to say that I deserved to be treated with respect instead of being abused all my life, because it is the truth. In the beginning it is so hard to say because I was convinced of the opposite. But to say it once , twice, three times etcetra, gradually I got to where I believed this truth and apply it to me almost automatically now. It is about replacing a lie that we believed to be the truth with the REAL reality. That is one of my experiences anyway. I hope this helps somehow.

Originally Posted by NowhereUSA

so. i kind of posted something in the psychotherapy forum but then i found this one and thought i'd ask here. i wrote something that i'm deciding about whether or not i should share in my group therapy. it's group appropriate, but in it i've said some nice things about myself. to say them, i had to imagine it being a friend and then i made it about me. the funny thing is, i'd believe them about a friend but i wouldn't believe them about myself. i feel like if i share it, i'd be lying because i don't really feel like they're true about me.

i feel uncomfortable about trying to internalize them.

any tips? commiseration? thoughts? i don't know that i'll share it. i probably won't. maybe i'll just show it to my individual t.

[hvert]

Even if you don't share the good things about yourself, sharing the technique of imagining it being a friend might be really helpful to the other people in the group!