- This topic has 13 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 2 months ago by
chldhoodtruamasrvvr.
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HopeParticipant4 months agoHi all,
I know it’s normal to miss my therapist between sessions but I’m wondering what I can do lessen those intense feelings of missing her and wanting to be with her when I can’t. I try to distract myself sometimes but sometimes I just miss her so much and feel so sad. I try validating my feelings and don’t push them away but it doesn’t help me. I still miss her and feel sad. I’m probably too dependent on her which is not good. Anyways, I’m wondering what I can do to help myself during these times? I’m open to all suggestions. Thanks!
ChavyParticipant4 months agoHi @Hope,
How did you know that this is the very thing that I struggle with? I’m also very dependent on my therapist and view her as a motherly figure and someone who can really nurture me.
I don’t really have much to offer other than what you tried, but maybe, instead of running away from those feelings, (maybe you’re doing – I’m not sure), you can try to feel them and experience them with open arms, as if it’s a baby waiting to be cuddled. In other words, really challenging yourself to be okay with the feelings and accepting that they’re going to be there, and at the same time that you’re working on them.
But I would also love for others to chime in and get some support on this, too.
4 months agoThank you Chavy for your response.
ChavyParticipant4 months agoYou’re welcome. I hope it helped.
ClimberParticipant4 months agoI do not have any practical suggestions, but have experienced the same thing. It definitely gets easier with time. With processing. With facing feelings and talking about them in therapy again and again until they subside bit by bit and the agony and dependence is not so overwhelming…. Hang in there.
ChavyParticipant4 months agoThanks @Climber.
I’ve been doing that.When you say facing feelings, you literally mean to lean into the anxiety and fully feel it? How long did it take for your attachment feelings to subside?
4 months agoI have the same question as chavy. @climber how long did it take for those feelings to subside?
ClimberParticipant4 months ago@Chavy, by facing feelings, I mean letting go of the shame and bringing them into therapy sessions so it can be worked on. There is usually something deeper behind it, an unfulfilled childhood need, a lack of object permanence, something that needs to be processed.
@Hope, I can’t give it a literal amount of time, neither will I say it is fully gone. I am in therapy for a couple of years and everything I do to both be vulnerable and own myself makes it easier.We always wait for that ‘shift’ where something difficult will be gone. It’s more like, I’ll have these moments where I’ll think about a couple of months ago, and realize how different it feels now…
melissaParticipant4 months agoMissing a therapist between sessions is really hard!
Did you discuss it with your therapist? Usually talking about it is the best help.
Your therapist, who probably knows you best, may have some ideas for how to make the time between sessions easier.
In some cases some between-session contact (even if you don’t get a response) may be helpful; in other cases, therapists sometimes offer transitional objects to help you during the time away.
And perhaps more than anything, seeing that she’s okay with you needing her and missing her, just helps you feel understood and automatically makes this a little less painful.
But it is super painful. I understand! And I hope things get easier for you.
@Climber, your post is so on target.4 months ago
ChavyParticipant4 months agoIn response to melissa's post #13555:
Yeah, my therapist knows about it and we’ve spoken about it a lot. It stems from my dependency on her.
ClimberParticipant4 months agoIn response to Hope's post #13559:
Maybe you be the one to go deeper with you to help you:)
chldhoodtruamasrvvrParticipant2 months agoHi There
I have the same thoughts in btw sessions I miss my therapist, however once the therapy day arrives I am on a high-even though I don’t share much in session.
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