People tend to forget that therapists–the professional we seek for guidance when we're vulnerable–are also human and are just as prone to feeling the feels.
Curious to hear from therapists who've exposed their emotional vulnerabilities in front of their clients opened up when Redditor Unkw0n_pers0n asked:
"Therapist that have cried in a session, why?"
A patient who feels seen and understood reinforces why therapists endeavor to help people in the first place.
It Wasn't Her Fault
"I was working with a deeply depressed client who had a lot of negative self talk about how she was always a failure. We were exploring the origins of this and how young she was the first time she felt self-blame. She told me her earliest story of when she was in 2nd grade."
"Afterwards, as we were processing it, I expressed that 'it wasn't your fault' about the story. She just broke down sobbing and said 'nobody has ever said that to me before' in between sobs. It hit me and I cried a little."
– Ayzmo
Relatable Experience
"i cried after i worked with a kid who described an emotionally difficult situation with a sibling. the kid’s experience aligned very similarly to something i went through with my own sibling when i was the kid’s age and i hadn’t realized how much hurt i was carrying from the experience."
"being a therapist sometimes means being confronted with things you didn’t realize had such a strong impact on you. luckily, i have a stellar therapist of my own that i can work through these moments with."
– rejecteddroid
The Patient With A Disorder
"I was doing a cognitive assessment for a girl. We were doing tests and at one point she started crying she was unable to tell me why, she was fine just one moment before. I let her collect her thoughts, then she said softly 'I don't want to be more stupid than my friends'. She wasn't actually, she was very bright, but she didn't know that she has dyslexia, dysorthograpy AND dyscalculia. I realized that she went through THIRTEEN years of school without help. Her parents didn't want to do an assessment as they thought she was just lazy. I told her that she was very brave to decide to get help and things would get better after our assessment and I felt tears in my eyes."
"Edit: first of all, I have great empathy for parents, for most of all is just a matter of ignorance, fear and parenting is hard. If you are a parent and you see your kid struggling, PLEASE listen to professionists, we are here to help, not judge, and we will find ways to help you and your kid. Disorders don't go away, don't underestimate it, the sooner you get help, the better the outcome can be. It's ok to be scared but we're here for you and we understand you."
"Second, I'm really sorry to read so many heartbreaking stories about people that weren't believed and struggled being undiagnosed. I wish you all the best, I hope you are in a better situation and you got or you'll get all the help you deserve, because you do deserve it."
"Third, if you think 'something's wrong with me', get help if you are in a position to do so. Worst case you understand yourself better and have a chance do make peace with parts of yourself."
– ---honeybadger----
A patient who has already accepted their heartbreaking fate recalls seeing their therapist getting emotionally involved during a session.
A Mother Who Didn't Want To Let Go
"My therapist cried while 'mediating' a discussion between my mom and I. I have a neurodegenerative disease and she is my full time caregiver. Because of my severe disability, she also has legal guardianship of me, even though I am in my 20’s (this is all fine with me, I need the help, and I agreed in court to all of it. This was the first true 'disagreement' that we ever had.)"
"I am ready to die. I am in pain, unable to do anything for myself, and it’s only getting worse. I asked my mom to sign a DNR, because I have been resuscitated before, it was a mess, and I don’t want it to happen again."
"She refused. She doesn’t want to lose her child and wanted to do everything medically possible to keep me alive."
"The session was essentially me begging her to let me go, while she sobbed and said she could never sign a paper that would lead to my death. It was a terrible situation. No one was 'the bad guy', no one was trying to hurt the other. It was someone wanting their suffering to end, verses a mother not wanting to lose her child."
"My therapist agreed that I should be allowed to make this choice, but certainly didn’t think my mom was manipulative or evil, just already grieving and trying to hold on to me as long as possible. I saw her wipe her eyes several times, and they were red by the time we were done. She actually hugged us both at the end."
"The situation wasn’t resolved during the session, but my mom came around shortly after. She wouldn’t sign the DNR, but gave me legal permission to do so (so, in her mind, it wasn’t her making the final decision.)"
"BTW, my mom and I have a GREAT relationship! This was just one issue that we couldn’t come to an agreement on ourselves. But it worked out, and I’m now in palliative care and have a great team looking after me, INCLUDING my mom!"
– fightwithgrace
The following examples continue to demonstrate how therapists are more emotionally invested in their patients and clients than you think.
Responding To Tragic News
"I cried in a substance treatment group. A client’s mom had reached out via email to me to say that her daughter died from an OD. She called during my group so I chose to take the call and spoke with her briefly. I thought I could continue with the group. Ended up in tears instead."
– ChicagoOwls
She Patient Who Felt Unloved
"My patient cried and said 'there's nobody on this planet who loves me anymore.' I cried when I left because I knew she was right. For context: she was 95, her husband and son had died, she had a personality disorder that made her behaviour unbearable for her environment after her husband died and every person still in her life were paid for to be around her. She died a few months after this conversation."
It is unsurprising that therapists are compassionate people.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be in the room to help someone who is struggling internally.
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These knees aren't what they used to be.
"Reinforced knees."- KesslerTheBeast.
Don't worry, they'll grow back.
"Teeth regeneration."- Independent_Mall_78
"Regenerating teeth."- Conqueror_of_beans.
"Regeneration, ability to regenerate any lost organs or body parts."- VastPurpleSky.
Let's see what the problem is.
"A diagnostic interface that tells you what's wrong with you."- ofsquire
Mucus be gone!
"The ability to clean out your sinuses or clear your stuffed up nose at will."- 50M3BODY.
Power napping to the max!
"Fast-charge."
"So I"ll only ever need 1-2 hours of sleep."- ofsquire.
GIF by OriginalsGiphySo many ways to say "hello"...
"Built-in translator from/to any language."- RutgerCastro.
Built in filtration system.
"An organ to filter salt water into drinkable water."- Never_stop_caring.
Let's take a closer look, shall we?
"The ability to zoom in with your eyes."- JoyousMelon4.
Halloween Looking GIF by GIPHY Studios OriginalsGiphySome very fascinating ideas.
And who knows, with the ongoing advancements in science, maybe some of these fantasies might one day be a reality?
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One rock is just like any other
"Plymouth rock Massachusetts."
"Despite all the rage it's still just a rock in a cage."- BodybuilderOk3836.
"Plymouth Rock!"
'I don’t know how famous it really is outside of New England but it’s a rock that marks where the Pilgrims supposedly first landed in Massachusetts."
"It is quite literally just a medium sized rock with '1620' carved in it but every elementary school teacher around Massachusetts at least hypes it up for the class field trip to see a literal rock that is not big, impressive, or really historically relevant."
"Driving an hour on a bus to see this was the most anticlimactic thing and I would not particularly recommend."- alisoninwonderbread
Vegas of the East Coast?
"Atlantic city."
"Monopoly got me good."- mahouko08.
How do you spell that again?
"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales."
"Nothing there except an Edinburgh Wollen Mills shop."
"Which is just silly as Edinburgh is nearly 300 miles away.'- Dreddguy.
Hooray for Hollywood...
"Hollywood, it's seedy and disappointing."
"It's full of entire industries (*cough scientology *cough) that take advantage of starry-eyed twits."- Judas_Feast.
"Hollywood Walk of Fame."
"It's a sidewalk and outside of maybe big events where they may clean the ones around where photos may be taken."
"It otherwise is just covered in dirt from people's shoes and some are barely legible because they haven't been cleaned in ages."- CaninseBassus
Los Angeles Hollywood GIF by Party LegendsGiphyWhere the land meets the sea.
"Lands End, UK.'
"Heralded as the 4th most disappointing attraction in the UK."
'It's not even disappointing enough to win an award.'
"I mean the landmark in Cornwall, not a clothing store."
"Deary me."- YellowBernard.
"They say the neon lights are bright..."
"Time Square on New Years Eve."
"Just forget it."
'It has *never* been worth it."- roman_fyseek.
Times Square Ball GIF by New Year's Rockin' EveGiphy"See the Pyramids along the way..."
"Egypt.'
"Its like if phone scams were a materialized location."
"You get there an right away the airport is going to start scamming you, take your electronics away and tell you that you need permits for them (which they will gladly sell you, and then tell you that its the wrong one and have you buy another one)."
"The hotel you stay at will check your bags again like the airport did and again tell you that you need permits or whatever random thing they decide they can get away telling you needs one."
"The police will extort money from you if they think they can."
"Fake police will come up to you and fine you or tell you to follow them to different sites where they will charge you."
"Children will run up to you and ask if you want to ride their camel very aggressively (they will cut you off with their camel and not let you move forward) tell you its free, and then try to charge you insane amounts of money and call their camel pimp over to deal with you if you don't pay."
"If you don't get on the camel they will often even get the camel to attack you."
"It's all pretty wild, its not worth it."- yovalord.
There are few worse feelings than arriving at somewhere you've been dreaming of going all your life, only to find yourself disappointing.
Maybe some places are best visited in our imaginations.
It certainly costs a lot less!
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