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I'm off the rails again and hating myself for it. Two weeks ago a man got into my personal space in the grocery store and didn't move until I said something to him. I'm proud that I said something, but then it knocked me flat out for the rest of the day. I could barely drive home (had to text my...

I bring a comfortable shawl to wrap around myself. My T does not touch at all. We shook hands once the first time we met in person. I'm a very physically affectionate person, and a survivor of sexual violence...and I have had a number of occasions when my boundaries were crossed by other people...

I'm sorry you've had to endure this abuse and disrespect from your father. I had to cut my parents out of my life a few years ago and it continues to be painful. It was also one of the best decisions I've ever made. You are brave and strong. You deserve to be loved and supported and treated with...

The more you describe her, the more controlling and untherapuetic your therapist sounds... Thankfully, she is becoming your ex-therapist. I would consider making some notes to yourself about these things. You might want to start out your consultations with new therapists discussing how they...

I'm so sorry she said that to you. Ouch! I think I would feel really hurt if my therapist said it wouldn't affect her at all to stop seeing me. Even though it's a professional relationship, not a personal one, I believe healing requires being cared for and held in positive regard. And when I...

I think something like this may have happened to me in the past. My insurance only covered brief "solution-focused" courses of therapy so I used it like a band-aid and kept getting worse. They are now minimally and only partially reimbursing my cost for an out of network therapist.

Maybe that question is triggering in some way? Could she frame it a little differently? Mine asks "DL, where did you go? Where are you now?" Sometimes she'll ask me if there is something playing in my mind that I'm not able to say out loud. She always replies "That's ok." I think you're right...

I guess it depends on how high-risk it feels in the moment. I will either say "no, that's not accurate" or simply admit I don't know what they mean by what they just said and I need some help. Sometimes the clarifications are illuminating! Sometimes I end up feeling more clear that I disagree...

It's good that you're identifying some goals!

You are very courageous! I'm inspired by how gracefully you faced your fear and expressed yourself honestly. Communication is hard! So often I think I'm being explicitly clear and then find others still don't understand me! So you're not alone in struggling to trust and needing more practice...

Please be gentle with yourself. It's hard to know ahead of time how our bodies and minds will react to processing the trauma. It might take time. I constantly have to slow down and recalibrate my grounding and self-care skills. I get so frustrated with myself even though it's truly outside of my...

What great questions. I think my body and brain are wise and desperate to heal. I trust what my body tells me and I also know that I can torture myself with recalling too much alone with my own self-blame and harsh criticism. I need my therapist's help to craft a compassionate narrative to...

Is it appropriate to refer to another thread? I just want to say I'm so impressed with all of the tools you developed to care for yourself on this important trip. I was taking notes! I hope you can acknowledge and appreciate what strength and resourcefulness you practiced in showing up for...

Wow! You are so brave! I'm in awe of you. And your therapist is making adjustments and anticipating your needs. This is wonderful. Please share how the workshop goes. I would love to find something like that to attend. Like others already said, be your authentic self and don't feel like you have...

I'm so sorry that happened to you and so glad you finally found one place where you felt safe enough to share it. It sounds like maybe you had some protective wisdom around disclosing to your husband. Maybe you somehow knew he wasn't safe? Or I could be totally wrong. Maybe if he was given the...

I'm thinking of you and wondering if you have had this conversation yet with your therapist. I hope it was affirming and validating!

Writing this out here so I can reread it when I start feeling hopeless and stupid again. I need to learn to pay attention to my positive growth and progress. I feel like I'm in a really good groove with my therapist. I'm struggling with anxiety and grieving but I think I'm finally learning to...

Last week was so confusing! At the start of my session last week, my therapist walked out to greet me and was warm and caring as usual. When we sat down, she said "so you said you were going to bring your journal and we also need to talk about [upcoming event], is that still what you need...

I think the people who care about us do want us to also care about ourselves. And I think therapists do intentionally model compassion for us so we can learn to be compassionate with ourselves. I think I understand and relate to what you are saying here. I sometimes ask myself how my therapist...

Oh, I wish I could tell you that I have figured out how to thrive. These days, I'm barely getting by. But I'm trying not too isolate and I'm trying to be more honest about how I am feeling with the people who love me. For example, I text with friends everyday and make every effort to have social...

Thank you. I'm glad Talkspace is working well for you! I am out of self-advocacy skills for the week, so I can't call or text my therapist again. But, I appreciate your thoughts and will try to take your words to heart. Maybe I can avoid being distrustful in our session tomorrow. I know I need...

I texted my therapist on Tuesday and asked for another session and told her why. I need to use my regular session this week just to prepare for an event this weekend. She replied that was a good idea and we would talk about that during our session as I wished. But then she didn't say anything...

Thank you for sharing so openly about your process and emotional state. I feel suicidal after processing traumatic memories too. I spend time trying to come up with ways to do it without hurting my spouse and children. Of course, there are no ways for that to happen. I've come to understand...

Religion is what we practice in community. Spirituality is individual. I think those distinctions are important. I don't think all religions have the same goals, nor should they. I believe in pluralist society. I think most people who evangelize should be ashamed of themselves. Abuse is never...

I wish I had some wise words to share but I don't. I want to say thank you for posting and sharing so fulsomely because I resonated almost word for word. And then I got to read these beautiful responses and try to hear them for myself too. I've been hard at work in therapy for 8 months. Talking...