I self injure and my t doesn't know yet

[Aro]

I used to self harm in many ways and keeping it a secret made the shame of it just snowball. I remember the shame of telling my T at the time and her response was so amazing and made it seem like such a "normal" response. It has taken much more work around it and at times i still feel shame about it. Good job reaching out here and I hope that you keep moving forward and tell your T.

 

[Ifib]

We worked out something to help me deal with the anxiety of memories/therapy and si-ing.

 

[Ifib]

Good job reaching out here and I hope that you keep moving forward and tell your T.

Thank you Aro for the encouragement. I plan to when I see her next before it gets way out of hand.

 

[Bugi]

Hi @ifib... Self harm is a coping mechanism.... It focuses your brain on the pain and its instant.
I understand totally and used to harm myself too... Don't be ashamed..... When people ask me about my scars.... I say they are my battle scars.... And that's all I say..

In time you will learn new ways of coping and that's why therapy will help.... Tell your new therapist whenever if feels right...

Don't beat yourself up you have nothing to be ashamed of....

 

[Vobiro]

Studies have shown that 1 in 5 college students and 1-12 teenagers self harm. It is super common and can become addictive the more someone does it. Try to ignore that unhelpful voice of shame, that is so wrong and keeping you stuck and hurting, and remember the good experience of telling the previous therapist.

 

[Ifib]

Don't beat yourself up you have nothing to be ashamed of....

Thank you for support Bugi. I know from before that it's a coping mechanism.

 

[Ifib]

Studies have shown that 1 in 5 college students and 1-12 teenagers self harm.

I started when I was in my teens ages ago. Thank you for the support as well Vobiro.

 

[Ibi]

We worked out something to help me deal with the anxiety of memories/therapy and si-ing.

I started seeing a new T not too long ago and felt pretty similarly. Whenever I SI I feel bad about it almost immediately, but I’ve still gotten the small release that I wanted. It’s always been really uncomfortable to me to bring up SI to any T. My fear is always that they’re going to make me talk about it and I’ll just be frustrated and ashamed. When I finally told my new T a few weeks ago she was supportive but also really respectful of the fact that I didn’t want to talk about it. That’s made a huge difference that she just backed off after making sure I wasn’t going to seriously harm myself. I think that most Ts (especially ones that specialize in trauma) are expecting it a lot more than we think they are. Good luck telling them!