I’ve wanted to be a therapist for a long time. I do struggle with anxiety and am a nurse. I told my therapist I got into graduate school today and he had no reaction at all. No congrats or encouragement. It made me feel like he thinks I’d be a crappy therapist.
I’ve been with this therapist on and off for 4 years. It was hard for me to connect because he is a man and I would have never picked a man, but thought it might be good for me because we both came out of the same religious background. He knows so much of my story. I’ve told him my history of being an overweight child, bullying, eating issues, relationship issues. And he listens and does seem to be invested in the process with me. And he did tell me recently when I expressed that I feel like I don’t matter to people that because he is a ceo he has very limited space and has to be deliberate about his clients. He said he has had to refer some out or not take others on, but he didn’t do that with me so I do matter. But with all the things I tell him he never validates how hard emotionally things are.
I find that I’m always questioning my own reality because I don’t trust what I feel. I wish he would acknowledge that things I’ve experienced would be hard and painful because I’ve never heard that from someone. I don’t want to ask because it seems like that defeats the purpose of it isn’t natural.
Does your therapist validate your emotions?