Posted by daisym on July 24, 2005, at 0:25:10
In reply to Read what you write?, posted by muffled on July 14, 2005, at 23:20:48
I read most of what I write and bring to sessions outloud now. It works really well for me,especially on Mondays when it is hard to get started again. It gives us a jumping off point. It was really hard when I started bringing in my writings, he had gently asked to see some of my stuff "sometime" but I felt like I was "cheating" because I was supposed to just say it. But I write so much more honestly. When I told him I felt like this he agreed that I was "brutally" honest in my writings and he liked being able to see what I am thinking. But he also said he likes when I read my stuff to him, because he learns alot about how I feel from how I read it. I skip some stuff, I read faster in parts or I bring the paper in front of my face.
If you read some of my posts from last spring and summer, you will see that I frequently received writing assignments as "homework." My therapist figured out that writing for me was a powerful tool so he encouraged it, both as a way to help contain some of my feelings and as a way to move toward talking about how I felt about him and therapy.
One of the things I've learned is that you have to make a commitment to yourself to read it. Because it sounds like a great idea until you are in there and then, for me, I feel sort of stupid. Why can't I just "say" it? But I can't, so reading it allows me to get it out and then we talk about it. Sometimes it is really hard when I write lots of different things, because then he'll say, what do you want to start with? And "you pick" doesn't usually work. :) So try not to take in too many pages to read at the same time, you want time to process her reaction to what you've written, or to clarify things.
Interestingly enough, my younger sides "spoke" to my therapist through my writings first. These feelings were showing up in sessions but they really came out on paper. It was extraordinary to be able to write in two voices, two age states.
Try to take stuff and read it. I read your poem, it was beautiful. You obviously have a lot to say. FORCE yourself to read it. It is so worth it.
poster:daisym
thread:527840
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050716/msgs/532522.html