Therapist who talks too much

[knittingninja]

Any pointers on how to get your therapist to stop telling stories and actually listen to you? He is talking for more than 75% of our session. Help!

[imsafi]

Honestly, you just have to tell them. Just say something along the lines of you feel like you don’t have enough time to say everything you want to say and go from there.

[knittingninja in reply to imsafi]

Sounds so easy, yet, it's so hard to say to the person who is supposed to be the "expert". I just sit there, bite my lip and listen. It truly is awful. Your advice is so practical. Thank you.

[imsafi in reply to knittingninja]

Remember that therapy is for you, your paying for it and spending your time there to heal. If your not getting what you need, you should either tell them or see if they can switch you to someone else. I’ve done it before and it was fine. Good luck!

[sweetiepye]

Do you suppose there is a reason for this ? Could he be trying to relax you , make you more comfortable ? Just an idea. Perhaps if you talked more , said something like ' today I want to discuss blank blank and then jump in and roll with it.

[knittingninja in reply to sweetiepye]

I know he is providing positive affirmations and suggestions for the future. I just am feeling ignored in some ways. Tomorrow is the day I bring it up. Wish me luck!

[Booklover0219 in reply to knittingninja]

Let us know how it goes. Good luck. Sometimes people just get into bad habits with their jobs and don’t realize it. I hope you have a good conversation with him about it.

[knittingninja in reply to Booklover0219]

Yeah, he still talks too much. I have learned to talk over him and interrupt. It's a thing for now...

[Daisymom]

Oh my God it drives me crazy when people do that! Even the guy who installed my water heater wanted to go into an hour of detail about the history and installation… Listen I just need to get that thing running and get you out of here LOL. Since you have a relationship… Here’s what I would suggest remember that you’re the patient… It’s your dime… It’s very possible the therapist thinks the stories are helpful I’ve seen some go on and on with related patients and it’s like well yeah OK but that’s not me... it could be they are a bit self-absorbed. If you are not comfortable being a confrontational person perhaps write your therapist a note and give it to her before your next session... tell her in your own words that sometimes she goes on too much and that when you feel you need to talk you will raise your hand and that signals her to shut the pie hole...A signal takes the pressure off of you to interrupt… Hope that helps!

[knittingninja in reply to Daisymom]

I am learning to take the narrative away from him and interrupt his stories. it has taken awhile, but i can finally do it!!

[knittingninja]

I love the feedback on this post. Hoping to get something small accomplished and go from there...