I hope all is well with you. You usually post a new chapter about once a month, so I hope there isn’t some IRL issue causing problems for you. I love this story and do my best to be patient! 🙂

spy

Good question- I've not done a thread on it but mentioned it a time or two. Basically, she'd been my therapist for maybe a year and our family was going through a lot of pretty major issues that were quite intense. We mostly focused on those issues, but I gathered she was pretty progressive / open minded and definitely had my best interests in mind. We went through "self care" and I shared a bit of that part of me when I felt comfortable to do so. I also knew she was a hypnotist and I'd just started listening to related tracks and was sharing the experience with her. It was as much about what hypnosis felt like, what my experiences were "going deep" and the like. That said, we also talked about progress towards the goal and my overall approach. Although I was tracking each night in a notebook, she encouraged me to not do that as it brings a psychological dynamic that's counterproductive- she didn't call it "performance anxiety" but it was along that lines. Thinking / trying / hoping too hard can move you further away. I remember sharing when it actually happened one night and she was thrilled- probably more so to see the fulfillment it brought me, maybe enjoyed such a compelling anecdote of how hypnosis helps towards goals, and that I'd achieved it. In short, definitely wasn't our focus nor the purpose of meeting with her, but she was open, supportive and helpful. I'd met with another therapist some years before (who relocated so I had to shift to the therapist above) and she was also generally supportive (sharing how wearing must be convenient, and relayed a story of her and a friend walking around a pond and her friend had depends... paused, raised her hands and said "I did it!" It was sort of lighthearted and we didn't dive too deep but she knew and I could talk pretty freely. With my current therapist (first moved, 2nd one referenced atop this post didn't take my insurance any more) I didn't feel as comfortable opening up about it. I did finally, incidentally, when chatting through family (inadvertent!) seeing me and how bad I felt about it. Anyways, she'd listen but not provide feedback and it was more like a courtesy. She welcomes changing the topic when it comes up. All in all, a mixed bag but mostly good. I think a lot of it may be NOT leading with this stuff, having actual things to cover... finding someone who is open minded and supportive, then sharing the right amount at the right time. None tried to "cure" because I probably picked the right ones but also because I laid it out in terms of being a piece of me after they understood the depth / intensity of some of the other pieces.

I do know that feeling very well, I have dealt with chronic neck and back pain for about 10 yrs, and when I do things I shouldn't do but needs to be done I don't recover well a days work, will make me bad for a day or more, even with my pain meds..