Did you recommend going to therapy to your therapist?

“And where do you feel that in your body?”

unironically sat 2 hours in pure silence because there were no other inputs from both sides. so i rather just sit the silence out in isolation

I think if you lose therapy, The witnesses will need therapy.

My therapist called me the most cynical 24 year old she'd ever seen. I'm 37 now.

I made my therapist lose her shits, because I sat in her chair once.
The arrangement was a small table and two identical chairs on either side, with no indication who has to sit where, other than how we'd usually do it and no clear instructions.
She couldn't handle it and couldn't let it go weeks after that session.
Am I winning?

This really depends on where you are located and what degree/license the therapist has.

For example, I’m a licensed clinical social worker in the Denver metro area. I got a ton of education on the issues of power, oppression, and privilege in grad school. All my colleagues are aware of those issues and would fully support you in your view.

But go South, and it becomes harder to find a therapist who is aware and won’t push god and religion on you.

In general, if you want more anti-capitalist therapists, lean towards social workers and check out the https://www.inclusivetherapists.com/ directory.

It would be really helpful for the depression if I could stop being proven terribly correct every single time anything happens.

I know what you mean. I largely predicted what is happening now back in 2015, and in this case it was my husband, not my therapist, who told me he believes “the system of checks and balances won’t allow it to happen.” He is an optimist and wanted to believe the US was still a good country. He now agrees with me and gets sad and angry any time something new and horrible happens.

Does therapy actually help you if you know what your problem is?

Yes, then you're already steps ahead. For some people, figuring out what the problem is, already takes therapy, but it doesn't end there. If you know, what the problem is and know how to fix it, you probably don't need therapy. But if you know what's wrong but can't fix it alone, that's what therapy is for.

Also knowing that they're talking to you because it's their job feels like the whole thing is a lie and a waste of time.

Only if you somehow follow the idea, that the therapist has to like you. That is not the case. It is their job and that's okay. You're also just talking to them because it's their job. Why would you open up to a stranger otherwise?

I mean you should get along together somehow, but you don't have to be friends with your therapist.

That's just self sabotage talking. Knowing about a problem is step one and it's what gets you in the door.

Just because you know you've got a broken pipe doesn't mean you don't need a plumber, just because you know your car is broken doesn't mean you don't need a mechanic, etc. There's nothing wrong with someone helping you being a job. That doesn't mean they won't do that job.

The main point of therapy is to get you to look at your circumstances in different ways and provide you with coping skills you may not necessarily have developed. You may even be unaware of whatever current maladaptive coping mechanisms you've built up over years of just trying to survive. This is where outside professional perspective comes in handy.

However! That's not to say therapy is a bulletproof process or that all therapists are good or that every therapist is a good fit for every person. I would liken it to finding your preferred barber or massage therapist or something. Sometimes you just got to try options till something works.

Yes. I knew (or at least thought I knew) what my problems were but needed help with figuring out what to do about them. Finally started seeing someone to help me with that and they did.

About it feeling fake: It's their job to help, but I did feel the same at first and told them so. That helped them understand me better.

Emotional problems often require solutions that work on the emotion level. In my experience, trying to self it yourself sets you up to try to solve it with rationality. But that often does not work, because the problem is not rational in nature.

This is where a therapist helps. It helps you to solve the problem at the emotional level. That is something a person cannot do by themselves. Asking for help is way easier than trying to do it all yourself.

I personally benefit a lot from https://healthygamer.gg/ as a stopgap measure. I still needed actual therapy, but this helped me through the rough times.

Most of my clients know why they are coming, it’s childhood (or other) trauma. That doesn’t mean they don’t get to have new insights on the topic. Also, while we talk, that’s not my main modality. We do EMDR and similar therapies that actually help people process the trauma. I’ve seen it change lives.