"If someone met your expectations would you be mad?"

"No"

"Then maybe your expectations are too high?"

I was still a kid. At my first session I opened up hard. I spoke nonstop for the whole hour.

When I was walking out I asked them “now what?” And they replied “Now it’s a long battle”.

That stuck with me.

I will share and highly recommend this resource: Western Australia's Centre for Clinical Interventions's Self Help Resources. Of course, these are applicable to anyone, not just Australians. There are various pages for different types of conditions (anxiety, assertiveness, procrastinating, eating disorders, etc.), and most of them take you to self-directed workbooks you can fill out yourself. They're not only informative, but they also guide you through your thinking about these issues and how to deal with them and grow from them.

"Here, take this quick test".

Ok.

"Huh. I've never seen results like this. "

...

"Welp, our time's up."

A really big part of therapy is learning how to communicate what happened, what is happening, and what you are feeling.

It takes a lot of time to organize it all into words that another person would understand, and doing so helps you.

The therapist might aslo reccomend what to do going forward but 9/10 times you already know that.

Mine explained my emotional dysregulation patterns and helped me identify the triggers and how to address them.

By far, the most useful technique they shared with me was the TIPP skills technique, which helps me come down when I am having strong emotional reactions as a trauma response or from anxiety. Essentially:

• temperature - use cold temp to lower heart rate, warm to raise it
• intense exercise - helps manage overwhelming energy levels
• paced breathing - I'm not big on breathing but it works for some
• paired muscle relaxation - my favourite as it also interrupts thought patterns

Hope you're able to access help though, obviously it is much better when personalized and you also get the safe space to release your fears and anxieties

"No one else can do the work for you."

Please remember to bring exact change next time.

Set boundaries and enforce them.

Just start doing things.

They told me about a Dark Plagus dude and some tragedy. I spaced out but I’m pretty sure the lesson was to always keep partying.

He told me that I need to find a new therapist.

If you think you picked a bad partner because there's something wrong with you because of how you were parented, actually a bad partner sought you out because they saw those vulnerabilities in you.

Being kind to yourself is apparently pretty important.

Get a hobby, get outside. Doesn't have to cost much either.

Sometimes in the summer I go to the beach before work and cook my breakfast there on a camping stove burning driftwood as fuel.

It's minimal how you can change other people. But you can change your own environment, actions and worldview. Even though it might take a long time for your body, nervous system and brain to change and adapt.

Even if your parents want to change themselves for the benefit of your health, it might not be possible for them. But you might be able to help them by changing yourself, and then indirectly change their environment.

The last advice my therapist ever gave me will hang with me forever: "If you're not willing to open up to me you won't get much from these sessions."

“You don’t have to do everything all at once” and “it’s okay to have a meltdown when you get home” helped a lot to be honest

Try and take time to soothe your inner child. Eat a bowl of Mac and cheese, try to go surfing, do dumb shit kids do. You know. Try it. Also learn to love yourself. Fucking good luck though, man that one... like how the fuck could that ever happen.

"lmao"

stop smoking marijuana

They tried to figure out which one of my sensory issues is tied to which one of my traumata. I'm autistic.

Your emotions and feelings are your brain and body’s way of communicating with you - listen to them. If you take some time to feel your feelings with a sympathetic lens, you can better understand what’s wrong. While fixing it will be a lot longer of a journey, simply allowing your self to listen will be a good first step.

Try something other than amex cards.

Yes its *possible, but not plausible_