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Am I Too Needy Or Is This Acceptable?

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My dentist actually checks in on me more than my t, I mean seriously!!!!

It sounds like your t keeps t...
Quite honestly I don't know. All I know about narcissism is the Greek myth and what's been said about Trump. My T doesn't seem anything like Trump to me I think! But it's 3.30 am and my working brain is already asleep so... no idea.
 
I think what has been helpful for me is to figure out what my purpose for writing would be. I did tell her I wasn't going to write anymore because I could barely handle the shame I felt when I snapped out of whatever desperate place I was in when I was writing, and then I'd always be convinced she was mad at me. (Totally irrational. And I still struggle with that) but she kept insisting like yours that I needed to learn to reach out because I don't. SO, now I view email as a way to communicate with her in the heat of the moment and say things I would never verbalize so that in session we can process it instead of avoid it. I don't view email as a way to get immediate support, and if it turns out she's able to provide that, it's a bonus. This is still a process for me. I struggle with self harm urges and she has said she wants me to contact her before acting on them and I want to say "I'm not going to be still struggling with it two days later..by the time I hear from you I'll either have acted on it or I'll be over it." But I don't say that. My T is sooo warm and caring. A tiny bit flaky sometimes. This past week she canceled the day of appointments but didn't tell me. So I went there. With my newborn in tow. She felt terrible. And it hurt my feelings even though I know it was a mistake. all that to say, they're human. And busy. And some are flaky. But as mine reminds me often, she got into this line of work because she cafes and wants to help. So I do my best to put myself out there and be vulnerable even when it's so scary because I need to grow. And I need to trust that when she says she cares and wants to hear from me, she's telling me the truth.
 
My T generally responds within 48 hours. If she doesn't, I know we'll talk about it at session. It's ok, yes she has a life. I would hesitate about "urgent" texts until you absolutely need it, as in crisis, otherwise, it becomes not urgent, ya know?
 
It sounds like she's trying to help you find a place in your relationship with her that is realistic and that models what happens in most "real" relationships.

What I mean by that is we all have times we feel like we need support. Sometimes the people in our lives are right there, immediately availabje and ready to step in and help. At others we really need to say we need help and communicate what it is we need and how quickly day by day. There are also times when the person we'd like to help just isn't available when we need them or isn't the right person.

None of those things mean your need is wrong - the nature or relationships are that we can express a need and the other can decide whether they can help or not, based on their capacity and availability.

It sounds like your T is being very honest about what she can offer. She can't promise to be available when you would like her to be and that might change day to day - which is what happens with most people, we rarely make rules about how quickly friends or family will respond to something, but if we need them immediately it's on us to communicate that. For example, I know a few people who check their emails every few days who wouldn't see something unless I let them know I sent it, so if it's important to me I know I need to flag it to them.

I know it's hard but it sounds like she's trying to help you identify when you have a need and to express that by telling her and telling her what you need. I rarely make contact with my T between sessions but when I do I'll tell her what I need. Usually I'm just letting her know something that's happened that's important to me and that I don't want to surprise her with (e.g. When my mum died recently I let her know so she had time to think about before session because we had just started a particular piece of work and I needed to focus on her death instead). At other times I'll tell her I'm just thinking out loud and can she bring it to next session. She'll never send a full response - just a quick acknowledgement and a reminder of when our next session is. That's fine, it's her boundary and I'd rather she took care of herself and didn't burn out.

Not reading your emails at all isn't ok and may suggests she's too busy generally. Not too busy for you specifically, just too busy. If she has said to text her and, if you need an immediate response tell her, that's what I'd do if I needed a quick reply. It might be worth exploring what she means by urgent so you have a clearer picture. It's ok to find all this hard - that's why it's called "work", she's trying to help you change your patterns in relationships and that's very scary and sore.

I also don't think you need to maintain a triggered state to make what you've sent her still be relevant. I've learned that part of me writing when triggered was that it helped me see what was going on in my thought process and get it down on paper for a record - because in my not triggered state I felt completely differently and almost couldn't remember what the fuss was about. Writing it and sending it meant my T kept it safe, I'd feel less activated which meant daily life felt easier, and there was a lot of benefit in going back and looking at what my thoughts and feelings were when triggered -v- when I was doing ok. I still struggle at times in looking at where my mind goes to when I'm upset or angry about something but it's part of developing trust in her to know that I can bring all of those parts of me to therapy and know that I'm accepted there.
 
Here's the thing, yeah it can be too needy to have an out of balance reliance on your T in lieu of cultivating coping skills. Reason being, there will be times with all people you have relationships with (not just the shrink) when reaching out for assistance may not get you the support you feel you need, when you need it. People have other priorities, their own lives, and their own day to day issues... that's why self management is so important.

You say (OP first post) you forgave her... have moved on yet go on to say it keeps cropping up again. That is not moving on and I think I'd take a better look at that.

Over reliance on others burns people out, frustrates us when we can't get the assistance we need when we need it. Continued over reliance on others can lead to resentment, retaliation and abandonment - that's why my shrink (as someone else shared) had a no contact between session policy and encouraged me to develop my own self management and coping techniques/tools/skills.

Didn't read all the responses... just popped out at me cuz I didn't necessarily do that to my shrink, but I sure did to my friends, spouse, family - and some damage was done to the relationships because of it which was painful for them and me. Harder to repair a damaged relationship, than to prevent it I find.
 
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I think what has been helpful for me is to figure out what my purpose for writing would be. I did tell...
This sounds very much like what I feel about my T and this situations. I get these moods and write and then they pass and I'm left feeling like such a pathetic thing. When she replies, it's gone and I feel stupid for bothering her. I once told her that she doesn't really have to read them, if she doesn't have time it's enough for me to hear her say "I've seen that you wrote and I don't have much time so I want to discuss it with you in person so we'll save it for next session". But she says she doesn't want to do that, she wants to read it so I will know that she has read it. She says it's important for her that I know I'm being listened to.

Sometimes I really wish she would just reply to my text and say "I'm sorry but I don't have the time right now" than to leave me waiting for days. It would make me feel like she respects me more and doesn't treat me like a child.
 
My T generally responds within 48 hours. If she doesn't, I know we'll talk about it at session. It's ok, yes she has a life. I would hesitate about "urgent" texts until you absolutely need it, as in crisis, otherwise, it becomes not urgent, ya know?

If my T doesn't respond within 48 hours it means she hasn't seen it and unless I bring it all up again or remind her that I'm waiting, we will not talk about it. After 48 hours that feeling has usually changed into half a dozen other feelings/behaviors. If it gets too much I just dissociate and then nothing matters at all. All gone. And we have to start from zero the next session. Frustrating.

ya.... just be sure you explain to all of your parts what urgent is from your t's perspective...
Guess I'll need to understand what my T considers urgent first then. Hum. How come I hadn't thought of clarifying that before? Oh boy. Thank you for pointing this!
 
Thank you so much for the elaborate response. It was very useful. And I'm sorry to hear about your mom. I'm still trying to remember who is who around here and I don't think I knew about that. Sorry.

It sounds like she's trying to help you find a place in your relationship with her that is realistic and that models what happens in most "real" relationships.
I can understand this, she explained that to me. I guess I don't think of my relationship with my T like anything from real life. It feels completely foreign to anything I've done before. I've been in therapy for three years now and basically, all I've learned is how to communicate with her so she would understand me. I feel like I've been learning her language, not a language I can speak with anyone outside her office. Usually, I know how busy my friends are or what kind of things are going on in their lives, what are their schedules like, so when I ask something from them I already have some idea of what kind of reply I can expect. If someone is going through a lot of stress at work or a personal crisis I won't go to them with my problems. But I never know what to expect from her cause I never think it's any of my business what she does on the time she is not in session with me. She says "contact me any time" but there's actually a very small frame of time that's really available for me, and I never know when that will be. If I text my friend, they reply within an hour. But, they're friends, not my T. I am a priority for them. I don't think my relationship with them and her is at all comparable.

At other times I'll tell her I'm just thinking out loud and can she bring it to next session. She'll never send a full response - just a quick acknowledgement and a reminder of when our next session is. That's fine, it's her boundary and I'd rather she took care of herself and didn't burn out.
This is what I wish my emails were for. But unless I bring them up on the next session, she will forget about them. If the feeling passes or I become too embarrassed, I always find something else to talk about and she never remembers what i was going through. I have a permanent feeling of leaving everything half way through and never resolved.
 
Thank you for sharing that. I appreciate you taking the time to read the OP and replying even though there were already so many replies.
People have other priorities, their own lives, and their own day to day issues... that's why self management is so important.
She only wants me to contact her cause she thinks I need to stop being so self-sufficient at everything. I never ask for help to anyone. I'd rather do everything on my own. I am aware of my needs but I was neglected as a child so I learned to get everything I needed all by myself. She is the one that insists that I tell her what I feel, that I ask for comfort or consolation and that I don't isolate myself every time I feel something "negative". It's a lot easier for me to not contact her at all and deal with it in my own way. But the work, for me, is to actually reach out and learn to trust. When she makes me wait in limbo all I think is why did I even ask? I was better feeling sad all by myself. Now I'm sad and I also feel like I don't matter. Which she always says it's not true but it's hard to be reminded that I'm not really a priority, just someone else on her list. She has a long list.

You say (OP first post) you forgave her... have moved on yet go on to say it keeps cropping up again. That is not moving on and I think I'd take a better look at that.
I forgave her for what she did but she created a situation for me that still has consequences to this day. Basically, something she did caused one of my parts to want to die and vanish. It was a very emotional part that held all the feelings from my childhood. So I forgave the mistake she made that caused my part to disappear but missing that part creates new problems for me. I try to talk about it as often as I can but it's not too often cause it hurts too much and I can't take it.
 
This past week she canceled the day of appointments but didn't tell me. So I went there.
I just have to say that this has happened to me before. My therapist did call me, but she called my house phone which I didn't get to until after I had sat in the waiting room for 20 minutes or so panicking. She had come down ill and gotten my cell phone and home phone numbers mixed up. Completely understandable, but it was really hard for the emotions to not take over. I was hurt and tried to be understanding but inside I wasn't especially since it had been a really hard day.
 
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