Whether you’ve taken the risk to provide yourself the space to process and grow in therapy over the past few years or have yet to begin your journey with therapy, sometimes one can find themselves asking a multitude of questions such as:

“Is it okay that my therapist just shared something with me about themselves?”

“Can I be honest with my therapist about how they make me feel?”

“How can I get the most out of therapy?”

Going to therapy and being in a space where we can process, practice being honest, and come into our authentic selves takes time.  Learning how to navigate therapy and exist as our whole selves in therapy is a process.  As you build a therapeutic relationship with your therapist, honesty, and authenticity about how you are experiencing the relationship can help you and your therapist understand one another better.  Ultimately, it motivates shifts and changes in the therapeutic relationship that will serve you beyond the time and space you share with your therapist.

In his book, “The Gift of Therapy” Irvin D. Yalom, M.D. talks about different issues such as the here-and-now, disclosure, responsibility, and feedback in the therapeutic relationship.  A book for therapists and clients, Yalom’s compilation of short letters and essays feels like you have unlimited access to picking his thoughts and brain whenever you’re in a state of wondering about your experience in therapy.  Whether you decide to pick up “The Gift of Therapy” or not, we hope that you take the chance, to be honest in sessions.  For a space that exists solely to facilitate your healing and well-being, you deserve to be open about your feelings, thoughts, and experience.