Using copymind readings to stop performing during therapy sessions
I realized my default answer to the therapist asking how I’m doing is “yeah I’m doing okay” even if I was a wreck this week and could hardly get out of bed. By the time I get to the session I’ve forgotten the emotions I felt at my worst and it actually does feel like everything was not too bad. It feels like my brain edits the emotions. So I started using the copymind tool during the week to catch these thoughts in realtime. It has this tool on validation where I can just vent exactly what I’m feeling without filtering it for a human so that I can make my therapist feel more comfortable. Last session I showed my therapist the readings of my weekly patterns. I basically had to say “my brain wants to tell you I’m fine but my patterns say that I’ve been spiraling multiple times this week”. It’s cut through so much of my defensive bs. It’s like bringing an objective witness into the room who won't let me downplay my own struggles. So naturally it helped our sessions too. Well at least as much as I can tell from one session, but it actually felt like we were getting somewhere deeper than the usual retelling of what happened to me this week in this robotic tone.
Question for all: how do you stay honest with your therapist when your brain wants to pretend everything is fine? Perhaps use any tools or take notes at home to show later?