I just have, which is why I’m asking lol.
Not quite sure what to make of it now.
I started the course of sessions (open ended) wrt a few different things, quite wide ranging, one of which in particular (a family relationship) has dominated the last few sessions.
There are a whole number of things I felt it would be useful to talk about and this week I really wanted to move away from this earlier topic (I would have just been repeating the same things again) and there was something quite specific I wanted to talk about.
It is something I have from early on that this therapist talks a lot (the sessions are prob close to 50/50 each active talking) and likes to spend time expressing their thoughts on things and I do spend a lot of the sessions listening to what they think, which mostly is fine as I like them on a personal level and enjoy the general rapport. Sometimes this has meant being a bit patient and letting them ‘pontificate’ a bit, which I’ve chosen to go along with as I like their general character. They often allow the sessions to run over for us to finish covering something, so I’ve felt like it evens out and they might even be aware they like to talk a bit and compensate in this way (or maybe not, I don’t know).
Anyway, today I said that I’d kind of parked this one topic as I didn’t feel it was fruitful to keep talking and thinking about it for now. They kept bringing the session back to this topic however and prompting me to talk about it more. I obliged somewhat but found myself repeating the same things we’ve already gone through so kept it brief with the hope we could move on. I didn’t have anything to add today.
It got to about 3/4 of the way through the session and I was a bit frustrated by this point as I really wasn’t interested in talking about this topic anymore and they were kind of continuing to prompt me to say the same things I’ve said in previous sessions. (Themselves echoing the same things they’ve said in previous sessions). I mentioned that there was something else in particular I’d been hoping to talk about. It was close to the end of the session by then and they kind of apologised as they said in hindsight maybe they shouldn’t have kept pushing this topic. Ok no probs.
The vibe felt a bit uneasy and they seemed almost a bit ‘off’ for a mo and then apologetic as they felt I’d had a ‘bad‘ session.
Then they mentioned that I might or might not want to continue with the sessions and to let them know and glanced at the time and said something like, ok well we should wrap up as time’s almost up. Wouldn’t think anything of this normally, but as mentioned above this is very much in contrast to other sessions, which I often discover have run over (the clock is behind me in the room). Have been going weekly for several months now, maybe 3?
I was surprised at the suggestion I might want to discontinue the sessions and at the sudden rush to finish up. Things just felt a bit unsettled and odd. They asked if everything was ok – I wasn’t quite sure how to read the situation or what to say. I said I felt a bit uncomfortable and surprised at the suggestion I might stop the weekly sessions.
They asked if I needed a minute then came back and asked if I wanted to speak to their partner (in the house somewhere) who is also a counsellor. I was like ?!?! No?!
By this point it felt like the session was out of control and although I felt upset, I felt like there was nothing else but to wrap up and leave. It all just felt v weird but didn’t know what to say. I left feeling quite unsettled and upset.
Now I’m not quite sure what to do – I think they’re a well intentioned person etc but it just went weird. I was going to text but feit odd and unsure what to say. I wondered if they might follow up with a text but they haven’t.
Has anyone else experienced similar and if so how did you handle it?! Have you followed up a session that went off-piste with a ‘debrief’ with the therapist about what happened, to clear the air? Is it time to cut my losses and move on? Is it too difficult to backtrack once something’s gone a bit awkward like that? The sessions have been good otherwise and helpful, and I felt we’d built a good rapport, so feel a bit disappointed about this.