Good for you!
I talk to my therapist every single week. Even if it's just to vent about my week. It helps me to be able to talk to someone about anything and everything.

Those sound like good goals for the two of you to work on. You've taken a good first step in starting sessions with her. I hope all goes well!

may the second go-round go productive places. seems like it oughta since you get to skip part of the getting-to-know-you phases.

or is my oughtism showing again?

good luck. i hope the venture goes healing places.

Thanks Girl and arfie! I am happy to be back in her care. I kind of have a lot to cover.

This is good news! I am very impressed that you can list out your issues and goals so logically. I am in my head too often at times. I find that brings on the loneliness issues. I am in a transition period myself of having few friends and wanting more.

That’s great GreenEyes as the old therapist knows you already. Good luck!!

hasty, I am definitely in my head too much. In fact, my head has been hurting on and off since Thursday. It sounds like you and I are a lot alike. I don't necessarily want more friends though. I have lifelong goals that don't get reached. A thought came to me the other day that I think I am mentally exhausted from all of my obsessing and ruminating. I am alone most of the time. I am trying to keep people and thoughts out of my head. I need to concentrate on what needs to be done. I have a ton of things to do today. I can't wait to get on a bike at the gym. I need to release some stress.

Thanks Marian! Yes, we picked up where we left off!

That's awesome. You're off to a really good start if you already know what you want to work on. I never seem to know what to say when they ask me that lol.

Really hope it helps. I am not in therapy now, but had some really tremendous therapeutic experience over the years. Two different therapists for different issues at the time. For me I seem to do best with therapy in more focused, limited durations. I kind of need a goal of what I want out of it, what I want to address with a path forward in mind. . Sounds like you have ideas in mind and I think that’s so helpful. To me that’s sort of actively participating in the process. It’s great.

Thanks Blue and rmb! I have another session tomorrow morning. I have been in and out of therapy since I was 19. I was really feeling crazy when I was 19. I was really scared. My first therapist's name was Dorothy. In our first session, I just wanted to find out what the hell came over me that i lost all of my feelings for my boyfriend overnight. She told me that for our next session, I should come back with 5 things that I liked about myself. And so it began. I've talked about my childhood. I've talked about my OCD. I've talked about my relationships. I've talked about my low self-esteem. I've covered a lot of ground over the years and talking certainly helped but here I am, restarting therapy. I think I am seeing things clearer now though. I am open to new theories. I am very fortunate that my therapy doesn't have a co-pay and i don't think it has a limit.

Yeah my experience has been I go in with thinking I understand the crux of the issue at hand and then realize it’s never really about what I think it’s about. I kind of joked with my last therapist, that basically everything goes back to childhood trauma. She said pretty much. We were kidding a bit and of course child hood trauma is no joke but for me it was a true eye opener. Like I knew I didn’t have the greatest childhood but I tended to minimize it, probably to cope and figure out how to navigate adulthood. The word trauma wasn’t part of our vernacular like it is now.

All of this is to say, what you think you may unpack is often very different from what you actually unpack. It can be emotionally draining to go mining your emotions and experiences, but also pretty amazing to be able to connect the dots and find clarity.

Happy you are seeing it as an opportunity vs a burden.

rmb, you made me tear up! After yesterday's session, we are going to dig into my childhood. i wish I could tape my sessions. I am forgetful. She said that something was a defense mechanism. i had mentioned that i think having conversations in my head is a coping mechanism. I think that I am a lot lonelier than i care to realize. I think my emotions are stuffed way down. i was telling her about a friend of mine whose feelings I hurt. She said she didn't want to be my friend anymore. I wrote back that i would miss them forever. That wasn't true and i didn't miss them at all. i have wondered if I am just cold but I think my therapist is right that it's a defense mechanism. I covered a lot yesterday. Looking forward to the future and thanks for keeping it upbeat. Dr. Gabor Mate talks a lot about childhood trauma and i am getting some of my ideas from him.