- Username
- haley
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I had the exact same experience when I first started seeing my psychologist. I didn’t tell her my first appointment but my second appointment I poured my heart out to her. I was the most relief I’ve ever felt in my life because I thought she’d think I’d lost my mine and call the police or something. Instead she explained to me I had OCD and that many people with OCD have similar, terrifying thoughts. I left that appointment with my head a little higher just knowing I wasn’t alone. Just tell your therapist what’s bothering you, if they’re the right therapist for you they will be understanding and help you conquer your OCD. d a i s y
I want to add, if your therapist DOES think you’re crazy, he/she is not the right therapist for you! I think many of us can relate to therapists who have been wrong for us - it took me a very long time to find someone who can help me. Just because they are a therapist or educated doesn’t mean they know everything. I had one therapist have me snap a rubber band on my wrist everytime I had an intrusive thought (my current therapist and I joke about this often lol); I had another therapist have me stand on pieces of paper with my family’s name on them to see which one I needed to repair my relationship with to be “cured”....!
Hi Hailey, depending on your age, there are laws that determine whether a therapist can ethically tell your parents anything. Be sure to ask your therapist what their privacy practices are and ask who has "privilege" to your information. I had a very bad experience with this same issue as a kid and now I'm training to be a therapist to hopefully make sure others don't have to go through what I did. You deserve to have power over your own information and life, so assert that you are aware of that! Your therapist definitely won't think you are crazy, but might make suggestions (medication, treatment, etc) that you don't like and it might make you feel like they think you're crazy. They're probably trying to help. You can decline any treatment. I hope this helps and good luck tomorrow!
You are very brave and strong to tell your therapist! I went to one therapist for 6 months and never told her that I have violent intrusive thoughts. I was constantly terrified that she would find out and would think I’m insane. Lately, I’ve been going to a new therapist and I told her about my thoughts last Thursday (which was also my 2nd appointment!) She was very kind and compassionate and she encouraged me and told me that she didn’t think I would act on them. I felt so free after I told her. If you’re therapist is good, she’ll be the same way. Wish you all the best, Elizabeth
thank you everyone. you have given me a lot of confidence. i’ll be letting my therapist know tomorrow and i’ll share how it goes !! :)
Good luck Haley!
If she is a therapist specialized in OCD, she will understand.
thank you so much daisy !!
I finally got in contact with a therapist today after suffering in silence for almost a year. I am proud for making this step but I am so scared to. Does anyone have any advice? I don’t even know where to start. I feel I’ll just be crying my eyes out the whole time and that she’ll think I’m a bad person. I’m especially scared she’ll think I’m homophobic due to my HOCD and don’t know how to talk about it without sounding homophobic
i'm sorry in advance for how long this post is and if it's to much information. i'm undiagnosed but have been struggling with compulsions and intrusive thoughts since i was 7 or 8. My worst intrusive thoughts theme has been about p*d*phil*s. I've been dealing with it since my freshman and sophomore year but these thoughts didn't become debilitating until June of last year. I had a panic attack and confessed to my parents about these intrusive thoughts. They were obviously shocked and share. I felt so ashamed and like a monster. After talking with my dad he said we would see a therapist about it. Sadly we never did the first appointment we were late and missed are spot and the second appointment i sprained my ankle the night before so instead i was in the hospital. After that i closed myself off i tried dealing with them on my own using sources like NOCD and stuff. I did try to bring up going to therapy to my parents. Every time they would ask me if the intrusive thoughts were back and I would lie saying "no i just would like to go to therapy" I was so scared they'd be afraid of me and stop loving me, especially my mom. Eventually after awhile my parents forgot about it and I tried ignoring these intrusive thoughts because I was so focused and stressed from school. I decided I could just wait till I turn 18 and schedule myself into therapy. recently though my intrusive thoughts have gotten worse. I recently had a convo with one of my friends who has intrusive thoughts as well and she's encouraging me to talk to my parents. I'm asking y'all what should I do. As much as I'm scared I want to get help because I'm sick of living and feeling like i'm day away from acting on my intrusive thoughts.
I’ve officially given my therapist some of the thoughts I get from POCD and I don’t really know where to start with how im “supposed” to expose myself to them?? There’s also something I didn’t mention to her that I didn’t feel comfortable sharing and I should I have but it was already late in the session so I didn’t. Should I just wait til she assigns me the exposures and then do them?
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