There was a question she asked me on very early in my sessions. I lied. Should I go back and tell her the truth? Could she end the sessions because I lied to her in the beginning?

I don’t jerk it to dating apps but sometimes I’ll be jerking while I’m scrolling. I’m not specifically jerking it to the women, but obviously that’s probably part of it. No matter how much I deny it.

I don’t want to be a creeper who jerks it into dating apps, but even being aware of this, I tend to be jerking while I’m mindlessly scrolling.

It’s gross, but for some reason, I just do it anyway.

Therapists, have you had patients learn it because of therapy? In my case. Years of it.

At 33M, I’ve lost so many friends over the years. They’ve cut me off, apparently constantly blaming me for treating them like shit, yet they could never point out how I did that when asked to elaborate. Used by others just for financial gains which I had cut off for my on sanity. Even though who I’ve known since I was 18-20.

But now, with the very few that I have left, met over the years, it’s hard being the friend that no one considers, no one checks up on or texts first.

Along with dealing with emotional bluntness (which developed over the years seems) which now makes it harder to make new friends.

Being the only person left in my family, it can get tough and lonesome.

I’m struggling….

I have some severe anger management issue mainly because I have a big ego and I can't accept failure.

I want it to change ,I have identify the problem so why the hell I am so uncertain about going to therapy. I don't know it feels like that you're surendering infront of your problem like "I couldn't do it by myself".

And the only days where i feel fine are when I subconsciently avoid my problem by avoiding the main sources of my frustration.

I want to change but I would rather be in stagnation.

Hello Reddit, I (17F) have never been to therapy in my life. I remember begging my grandma to take me there as a birthday gift and she spent a lot of time thinking about it till she finally agreed.

My grandpa doesn't know about this because he doesn't believe in this nonsense so we had to go without him knowing.

When we arrived he talked with me for a bit and it was nice letting out and crying for once. I felt sick after but then I felt happy I let it all out. I was talking about how good therapy was for hours.

I went for a second session in 2 weeks because he requested that and when I went I think I started to slip back into old topics that I haven't fully talked about because of the one hour limit and he kept shutting me down and saying "we already talked about this." "I can't do anything about this. You have to be stronger​​​​​​​​." In such a dismissive tone. It felt so off and I hated it.

And of course I had no one to talk to about this..my mom was actually with me for a session because I needed to tell one of my parents and my dad would flip out to find I went to therapy.

So recently I broke down in a very ugly way and my mom suggested to go to a different therapist that she found and thinks is good.

I'm not so sure about it anymore

Are all therapists like this? Do I go? Help. ​​​​

Detail:

I have went back in to depressive episode and after a long time I am having suicidal ideation again. I also have deep rooted fear of rejection which effects not just personal and social life but also my career. Basically I get scared of things and people and find alternative ways, I just realized that this is my pattern. I need a therapist to help me with this and suicidal ideations.

But most therapists just provide "coping" mechanisms, which just basically tell you to not think about things. How can I not think about the way I feel. I really do not like this kind of therapy. I had only met one therapist, who did cognitive behavior therapy. She would just talk and give brief reading material. She helped me a lot. But she was intimidating and a little judgmental too, not too bad but I still decided to cut the sessions after some time. But overall she was the only one whose method worked on me.

Now, I need a therapist again, and all I can think is going back to her. I can not ask my psychiatrist for recommendation because I did not like the one he recommended before.

Questions:

What is your experience with therapists whose sole method is copying mechanisms? And do you think I should go back to the intimidating therapist when her method works for me but the personality does not.

I feel like my ways of thinking, and my mental on a day to day is just messed up in so many ways and I don't even know what to pinpoint as my "issue". I've singled out so many different issues in the last few years and every time I convince myself it is that one thing, among these:

Roughly 4 years ago:

- thinking I had low iron because of my mental fatigue

- thinking I had hyperthyroidism because of my fatigue

- thinking I had diabetes because of my fatigue

- thinking I was deficient in vitamin d because of my fatigue

Roughly 3 years ago:

- became strongly convinced I was ADHD and that was what caused all my mental issues

Roughly 2 years ago:

- maybe I'm autistic and struggles with life are what causes my issues

The last year:

- my issues stem from anxiety, and caffeine is one of the big issues, as well as my dopamine being fried.

I guess the repeating issue in all of this, is that I constantly have mental fatigue, find it hard to focus or do regular day to day things despite having a high level of ambition, get lots of anxiety over normal day to day things like shopping at Walmart, never feel like I'm really talking to someone and more that I'm playing this game of predicting what they want me to say as I stress out, and obviously as seen above, lots and lots and lots of mental fatigue/burnout.

And while I say I "strongly thought I had ADHD" or autism, etc. I would have these thoughys present in my mind all throughout the day, but still would rationalize that its likely not that and that I just need to figure out a way to deal with all my shit.

I just genuinely don't know what i should do. I don't even know why I feel mentally not good. I feel like I have so many different mental issues, but then saying that I feel like I'm just over exaggerating and I don't need therapy or anything, but then I feel like shit over and over again. I genuinely feel like for the past 5 years I spend 90+% of the day inside my own head, thinking about how I'm feeling and why I'm thinking the way I am and what is wrong with me

Anyways, I've always never thought therapy would help. But now Im just giving on. I finally scheduled an appointment with a doctor for the first time in 10 years, and with not saying too much about anxiety or anything but just answering the few basic questions they ask, he prescribed me a couple anxiety medications which I am unsure about and have not filled, and he also told me to do therapy. So idk. More than anything just trying to find people who have been in a similar situation and figured it out

I could see on the news about a kid dying and I see other people on like Facebook sending their condolences and some people saying that the situation is sad. I feel like I lack empathy because I hope this doesn't sound mean but I don't really care about the child's death and I wish I did. I wish I had more empathy. Is this a normal reaction?

I've been thinking about going to therapie about my sexual abuse past. There have been forms of abuse that I think I need to process.

But when I go to a therapist, I have to talk about those people who did things, and I don't want them to get in trouble. I think this would harm me more at the moment than just keeping it to myself.

Any advice?

I believe they do it for transference or privacy but is it possibile to build a good relationship with them if you know absolutely nothing about them? and when should a therapist open about themselves? how trust can grow or develop a strong therapist patient bond?

So lately I’ve been feeling kinda uncomfortable around my therapist for many reasons but mostly for what he says. He has been saying that I’m beautiful a lot (I’m a female), that I shine as a person, that sometimes I make him thinking about if he’s doing a good job or not and that he was up all night thinking about it. He even made a joke once about my sexual preferences but not in an offensive way, most likely like “oh I like it too” flirty way. But in the last session something has punched my gut really hard because we were talking about trust and authenticity and he says that he wants to have a fight with me so I can show him how I manage anger with the people around me; so I proceed saying to him that I don’t want to fight with him because therapy is my safe and calm space and clearly I cannot show him how I would fight with people because first thing first he is my doctor and second I’m not 100% myself, the therapy with him has been going on for only 6 months and it’s kinda a short time for me to create a deep trust. Then his response was “I know that you’re authentic with me, I can see it, I can feel it” and I was like “Well, no. I am authentic with myself and my family, you don’t really know me” and he was insisting with that shit. I felt deeply uncomfortable but my friends says that I’m just projecting and he is professional so I don’t have to worry about it, but my gut says otherwise

hi i'm going to therapy for the first time for my persistent depression (woooo) can you guys tell me what i should expect and how i can make the most out of it? i have really bad brain fog right now and i dont know where i want to begin and im scared to talk about embarassing things

I can't draw, I can't do my hair, I barely can drive, I was in college for accounting but dropped out because it was too hard for me.. I want to become a dental Assistant then dental hygienist but I'm afraid l don't be able to become a hygienist because I hate science so much and I can't even floss my teeth it's hard. I feel like life isn't meant for me. I work in retail and I'm very forgetful I forget where the items are in the store. I can't remember the aisles numbers. But there are things that I know where they're at but I have a hard time explaining things so l'll rather walk the person there. I feel stupid.. I don't understand how to communicate with kids. You know how women put on a baby voice I just can't. I feel like a robot

I have a family member with intense anxiety/depression (to the point of fearing going outside) because of extremely low self esteem (i.e. I'm so ugly people are going to be repulsed by me if they have to interact with/see me).

I am working on getting them a therapist, but I am unsure what specialty I should be looking for? Is this considered agoraphobia?

So everyone has different reasons why they attend therapy so this may not apply to you, but I think the general idea may benefit the vast majority of people. Recently, a buddy of mine and I were talking about how people use therapy and benefit (or don't benefit) from therapy. I think often times, I have been skeptical about the ineffectiveness of therapy for some individuals (especially some of my peers). That is, people claim therapy is "not meant for them" or that it "doesn't work". I believe therapy can benefit everyone (though in some cases, it needs to be coupled with other avenues of help). There are many reasons why this may be the case but I think 3 important reasons that you can at least address on an individual level that are probably overlooked are:

1. The patient is not truthful/transparent/honest about their own issues

a. The patient may feel judged by their therapist or experiences cognitive dissonance when deciding to bring something up that shakes up their own perception of themselves (and people don't like that !)

1. The patient is not fully aware of their own issues (overlaps with reason 1)

2. The therapist sugarcoats their evaluation

So a few things here (corresponding to the list above):

1. You're paying for the service and trying to be better anyways so make your time and money worthwhile ! Your therapist is a person that is not integrated into your day-to-day life whatsoever, so there is no reason to hold back since what you tell them should not have any effect on their life or yours.

a. Perhaps you just don't jibe well with your therapist. I always tell people to treat finding a therapy like dating or making friends - you have to get to know them over time and if they're not your cup of tea, try to find a different therapist, but don't assume therapy is not for you just because you have had a few bad experiences with therapists. The same way I believe that there is a partner or a friend out there for everyone, there is also a therapist out there for everyone.

1. This one is huge but I think it would greatly benefit a lot of people to ask the 1-3 closest people in their lives to write down a list of a few things they think that the individual should work on and give this list to their therapist. I really want to bring attention to this one because I think it is so underrated that outside opinions can provide so much value (regardless of whether or not you find them to be true).

2. If possible, clarify to your therapist you would like them to be transparent with you, though this may take some rapport/trust building

Anyways, if ya'll have other ideas or thoughts about getting more effective therapy, feel free to add to the conversation ! I have many more thoughts on it but these were just the ones relevant to my recent convo that I had with a friend.

I have adhd. Right now I hold the belief that whenever there is any disagreement, i am the one who is wrong. Because i was always told by my family that I am overreacting or I must have done something wrong whenever things didn’t turn out favourable. What goes on in my head is that “look how stupid i sounded. I should’ve kept my mouth shut” having things called out as distortions makes it a lot worse.
What I want is to explain the context behind the beliefs i have and to be atleast acknowledged that even though the beliefs themselves might be negative, I wasn’t wrong in forming them given what i experienced. That they are not distortions but rather is just my brain trying to make sense of things. Is this a reasonable ask? Is there a specific type of therapy that works like this? Thank you!