Today was my first session back after a ten day therapy vacation. I was kinda nervous going into it because it’s always awkward for me. I never know what to talk about. There’s so much I could talk about and that overwhelms me.
I knew I wanted to be pretty clear about how the past week has been for me, so I was prepared to talk about that topic. I opened by asking about how her vacation was and she said it was fine. She asked how it had been for me and I said it was also fine, but that I also did not want to do it again anytime soon. She laughed a bit and said, “Okay.”
Then I told her that I surprised myself with my ability to be resourceful throughout the time away from therapy. After the last session prior to her vacation, I’d told myself that I could call her if I absolutely needed to and I trusted myself to know what, exactly, “needed to” would mean.
That point never came, but I noticed that I was much less punitive with myself about reaching out. Normally I convince myself that I’m a total loser if I can’t get through a break without reaching out. This time I allowed room to need that, but I also allowed room to handle those moments alone. So although I think it’s great that I didn’t need to call her, that’s mostly because it demonstrates my increased ability to cope, not because I would feel like a loser if I had called her.
Things I Learned In Therapy 