First therapy session - how to overcome shyness?

[Melanie ♡]

Oh dear god and demon lord, I can't even speak properly... It was so awkward, I just can't lol I don't know it's really weird, I am very shy and can't open up to people and I was very uncomfortable...  Did anyone feel like this? How did you overcome feeling like this?

Well this was my first time ever to have therapy, and it was mostly questions to get to know me for an initial meeting and not even the real deal, so I can't even think about it >.< So yeah.... 

[Eva Marie]

Melanie-

The therapist is there to help you, not judge you. Think of them the same way you would think of a doctor if you had to go to the ER for something embarrassing - they have seen it or heard it all before. What you have to say won't shock them.

On the first visit to my therapist when she asked me why I was there I just picked a spot on the wall to look at and started spilling my guts. It was uncomfortable yet therapeutic to tell her my darkest secrets.

They can't help you unless you are 100% honest with them. Just let it all out.

[Kylie1]

Melanie,
Eva is right.  Doctors and therapist have heard it all.  They have heard and seen it all so many times they won't even flinch.  Shes also right about them not judging you.  They aren't there to judge you, just to help you.   

[Valwen]

I was super nervous at first one thing that changed that was actually finding common ground with my therapist, we are both geeks and it really helped being able to take a moment away from the self study and talk about something else. I tend to bring up comic book and video game characters I have found out where LGBT or similar things to lighten the mood or give myself a chance to process and not focus so much on the problems. it seems to help me..but its danagerous with geeks we have a habit of talking about things for too long which cant be helped when you ask how the last session of his D&D game went.

Serena

[iKate]

Well from a practical aspect the therapist keeps everything confidential unless you are suicidal or threaten to commit a crime or something and they have to call the cops in that case (state law). So no harm in opening up at all.

I've said it all at therapy, including lots of F bombs and rants.

Don't be shy. You know yourself and your therapist wants to get to know you too.

[JoanneB]

Melanie-

The therapist is there to help you, not judge you...

They can't help you unless you are 100% honest with them. Just let it all out.

This

In RL I am or was a shy person. (A lot changed these past few years) I just could not talk at all to any stranger and barely talked to acquaintances. Friends? Females were the easiest to make and have. Go figure! Best friends? Well I only had 1. Perhaps having a really bad stutter as a kid had a lot to do with me not wanting to talk at all. Trying to talk always meant being ridiculed. And not always because of how I spoke, also being berated in general since I was an easy target.

A few years ago when I went to my first ever therapist I knew that had to change. I wanted help. I needed help. And the only way I could even think of getting any is by spilling my guts and being as honest as I could. Even more important, being opened minded.

Being totally honest with and about yourself changes over time. I think mostly because being trans also means you tend not to have a clue who your for real "real self" really is. As time goes by, you figure it out more and more

[yokosoko]

Well I just saw my first therapist for gender related issues for the first time the other day. I was hella nervous and at the begging a little awkward talking about this, but i steeled myself and just dove right into it, no holds barred.

At the end of the day I'm seeing a therapist to sort out what's going on in my head. The only way a therapist can help is if they know what's going on.

Thus the only real option is to throw caution to the wind! Anxiousness, nervousness and awkwardness be damned! The sooner I can get my therapist to understand what's going on, the sooner we can begin work on sorting it all out and coming to the nescessary conclusions and actions needed to live better.

Of course I understand it's easier said than done, and a history of doing lots of public speaking (which i hate) has required me to master finding a space in my head where I can just say eff it and dive into talking, but having the mindset helps, (it's how I was able to begin at least)


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