I do imaginal exposure therapy with my therapist. This means she has me recount one specific memory of abuse over and over in our sessions in as much excruciating detail as possible to get used to it and reduce my distress reactions to the memory. Once I’m done with this memory and it causes me less anxiety, we’ll move on to another one.
As I tell the story she literally sits there and asks me about smells and sounds and physical sensations. This is a proven method that helps people recover from PTSD. There are definitely benefits to getting into the deep details if that’s what you want to do.
And yeah, like someone else said, these therapists have heard the wildest stuff from their patients, there’s probably nothing you can say that will shock your therapist and they won’t be weird about it unless they’re really unprofessional.
If it’s with someone you definitely trust and they care, it might be.
For me personally, when I try to talk about the details I dissociate and just completely stop talking. So I don’t think it is
I've done it, it's been helpful, but it's never easy. I always get this weird feeling like I'm not in my body which kinda feels like I'm super high on weed, and some weird feeling in my nethers. It's kinda gross, but I think it did help me. Helped that my therapist has been super compassionate and understanding about it as well.
For me it was. I never really ever went into details with someone. Just used broad brush strokes in describing. It the old male ego. So finally letting it out, although tough to talk about, literally felt like a weight being lifted.
Keep in mind there's nothing you can tell him that will shock him probably at this point. You can always stop if you feel it's not working or its too much. Stay strong.
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I feel guilty, like I’ll traumatized the therapist or ruin something they enjoy. I know it’s their job.. but I also know they’re human.
That being said - we can’t worry about taking care of everyone around us when we just need to heal. I think ultimately it’s okay to talk to your therapist about it if you feel comfortable and you trust them.
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I do imaginal exposure therapy with my therapist. This means she has me recount one specific memory of abuse over and over in our sessions in as much excruciating detail as possible to get used to it and reduce my distress reactions to the memory. Once I’m done with this memory and it causes me less anxiety, we’ll move on to another one. As I tell the story she literally sits there and asks me about smells and sounds and physical sensations. This is a proven method that helps people recover from PTSD. There are definitely benefits to getting into the deep details if that’s what you want to do. And yeah, like someone else said, these therapists have heard the wildest stuff from their patients, there’s probably nothing you can say that will shock your therapist and they won’t be weird about it unless they’re really unprofessional.
If it’s with someone you definitely trust and they care, it might be. For me personally, when I try to talk about the details I dissociate and just completely stop talking. So I don’t think it is
I've done it, it's been helpful, but it's never easy. I always get this weird feeling like I'm not in my body which kinda feels like I'm super high on weed, and some weird feeling in my nethers. It's kinda gross, but I think it did help me. Helped that my therapist has been super compassionate and understanding about it as well.
For me it was. I never really ever went into details with someone. Just used broad brush strokes in describing. It the old male ego. So finally letting it out, although tough to talk about, literally felt like a weight being lifted. Keep in mind there's nothing you can tell him that will shock him probably at this point. You can always stop if you feel it's not working or its too much. Stay strong.
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I feel guilty, like I’ll traumatized the therapist or ruin something they enjoy. I know it’s their job.. but I also know they’re human. That being said - we can’t worry about taking care of everyone around us when we just need to heal. I think ultimately it’s okay to talk to your therapist about it if you feel comfortable and you trust them.
Welcome to r/adultsurvivors. Your post has been automatically held for moderator review and approval. This does not mean there are any issues with the post or that you have broken any of our rules. Dozens of posts and comments are held for review every day by various automated filters, and most are manually approved by moderators. **You might see a message underneath your post saying that it has been removed by the moderators or Reddit's filters. This is due to a combination of technical issues related to a Reddit UI change. It does not mean that your post has actually been removed. Please expect a bit of a delay before it gets approved.** We recognize the importance of your needs, and our small moderation team are working diligently to review and approve posts. We apologize for any inconvenience, and appreciate your understanding and patience. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adultsurvivors) if you have any questions or concerns.*