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My Therapist Is Also An Artist And Writer

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FindingMyself88

MyPTSD Pro
So on the website of the facility where my therapist works, it states that she is also an artist and writer. I can definitely see it because she is really encouraging me to work on journaling and drawing. I am hoping with her help I can learn how to use journaling as a therapeutic outlet. I can write how I feel better than explaining it, but I only when I am writing to someone, which is why it is so helpful to come here and talk with all of you. However when I am just journaling, I find that I write very factual and not so much emotional.

Anyways, I don't know if I was wrong to do this or not, but I googled my therapist and found her blog. It is nothing personal, but I wander if I was wrong in finding it. I've read a few entries and they are really insightful. If she didn't want it read she wouldn't have made it public correct? I kind of want to tell her I found it and find some of it helpful, but I don't want her thinking I was snooping on her. I just wanted to see if she had published anything...
 
She knows how the internet works. If she's put up public content then she will be aware that her therapy clients can find it, especially if she's posting under her own name, which presumably she is if you found it by googling her. If she wanted it private there are ways she could ensure that.
 
I felt this way to that's why I did allow myself to read it. I just want don't want to read it without her knowing, but I don't want her thinking I'm some snoop too lol. It's not like its an old one either, she posted on it just 4 days ago.
 
I do freelance work and I google each new client. They google me as well and connect via Facebook (NOT welcome) and Linkedin (perfectly okay). There is a professional relationship between you and your therapist and googling her is normal. She puts the stuff on the internet for anybody to find. Don't feel guilty for being a perfectly normal human being in the Information Age.
 
Ditto the rest on not worrying about her reaction. Reading published blogs is a far shot from stalking.

As for getting past the emotionless journaling, I have two thoughts:

1) give yourself time. It sounds like you are fairly new to it. Practice, practice, practice.

2) the art of writing is in the re-write. Therapy also benefits greatly from development and repetition. Don't be afraid to revisit a particular theme in a later entry.

Good luck. Journaling was/is an extremely valuable tool for me.
edit: If you are doing it at all, you are doing it right. There is no wrong way to journal.
 
Oh, and may I add: Two sites alerted me that my ex therapist googled me while I was seeing her, and shortly after I stopped seeing her. it works both ways. Perhaps I should start a thread about boundaries: I had an argument on this forum about a year ago about boundaries. My point is that all relationships are governed by boundaries, and yet we somehow see 'therapeutic boundaries' as sacrosanct. My conviction is that the day the client and therapist have equal respect for each others' boundaries there is a mutuality that implies mental health - on both sides.

With this I'm not implying that my ex therapist was violating my boundaries. I'm just pointing out that googling is normal in the extreme :confused:
 
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I feel a little better to read more now lol. As I've read more, I see some personal experiences, but it is all done in a therapeutic way. It's really insightful..

Ditto the rest on not worrying about her reaction. Reading published blogs is a far shot from stalking.

As for getting past the emotionless journaling, I have two thoughts:

1) give yourself time. It sounds like you are fairly new to it. Practice, practice, practice.

Thank you for the tips and encouragement. Depends on your definition of new… I have been trying to journal for 2 years. Now I am not consistent, but I typically journal at least once a week, more on here than on paper.

Therapists know we have trust issues. They expect us to seek info about them.

Talk to her about it. It might help you feel better.

Thank you, I will try to bring this up to her. We are fairly new to each other, so maybe this will help me to open up to her more. I've only been seeing her a month.
 
We didn't end up talking about this because we talked about some boundary issues I've had the past 2 weeks and also about the fact that I've dissociated a lot this week. It was funny though, we did a boundary activity that she had talked about and journaled in her blog. I see her again on Tuesday, so maybe I can bring it up to her then.
 
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