*: ･ﾟ✧ therapy inspired starters.
some starters inspired by my 6+ years in therapy, both from good and less good experiences. feel free to change pronouns, wording, etc. as needed! (obvious trigger warnings for various dark topics such as suicidal thoughts, self harm, etc.)
THERAPIST / PSYCHOLOGIST / PSYCHIATRIST’S POV.
“ what can you do to change that?”
“ how does that make you feel?”
“ what emotions are you feeling underneath that anxiety?”
“ how does it feel coming here today?”
“ i notice you get more quiet when you talk about it.”
“ do you notice you’re withdrawing a little just now?”
“ can you allow yourself to have contact with me right now?”
“ what makes it difficult having contact right now, talking about this?”
“ i understand it’s difficult for you. understandably so.”
“ i notice you’re smiling when you’re talking about it. why is that?”
“ here, i’ll get you some more tissues.”
“ it’s okay. just let it out.”
“ it’s okay to let it out.”
“ do i understand you correctly that that’s something you want to work on more?”
“ do you have any thoughts like that now?”
“ have you made any actual plans to do it?”
“ did you have to get stitches?”
“ can you allow yourself to feel [emotion] at that?”
“ what are your thoughts around that?”
“ say it was someone else in your place… would you still think the same about them?”
“ i don’t think talking about that is the best for you right now.”
“ i think we need to focus on getting you out in social situations.”
“ i think what you need is to get more positive experiences.”
“ i think talking about it can end up only damaging you more.”
“ you’re stronger than you think.”
“ that’s something you need to figure out.”
“ i’m trying to push you to find that strength to fight.”
“ every time i see a glimmer of hope, something comes to snuff it out.”
“ i don’t know how to put it into words.”
“ i’m smiling because i’m trying to hold it in.”
“ i’m smiling because i’m uncomfortable.”
“ i’m just so tired of not being heard.”
“ i feel like i’m not being taken seriously.”
“ just because i pretend to be fine doesn’t mean that i’m fine.”
“ i’m struggling a lot more than i let anyone see.”
“ it’s like a black hole in my stomach that sucks out anything positive.”
“ it makes me feel physically sick.”
“ i’ve had a lot of trouble sleeping lately.”
“ i’ve barely eaten anything lately.”
“ i’ll wake up from anxiety and start hyperventilating.”
“ i feel like i’m not good enough.”
“ it makes me feel worthless.”
“ i keep wondering what i did wrong.”
“ i feel like i deserved it.”
“ i know rationally that it wasn’t my fault, but it still feels like it was.”
“ it’s like my thoughts and my feelings are colliding with each other.”
“ i want to talk about and work on my trauma.”
“ i don’t feel ready to talk about that right now…”
“ if i didn’t have [person] in my life, i probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
“ i considered calling the crisis line.”
“ i started having these really dark thoughts and it scared me.”
“ i want to work on my self-esteem.”
“ these small every-day noises makes me jump.”
“ i feel anxious just doing every day tasks.”
“ i feel like i’m pulled back in time to when it happened.”
“ this time of year is just harder for me.”
“ when you constantly get negative comments every single day, you start to believe it.”
“ the one friend i thought i had, turned out not to be much of a friend after all.”
“ no matter how much i know i should cut him out of my life, and that i’m only hurting myself otherwise, i can’t get myself to do it, because i still love him, despite it all.”
“ it hurts even more when it comes from someone who knows you.”
“ i feel like a lot of therapist just use the fact that they have an education to treat their patients however they want instead of actually listening to them.”
“ what do i do now? i don’t know where else i can go.”
“ sorry i used up all the tissue paper…”
“ can we talk about it inside the office instead of out here, please?”
“ you told me you didn’t believe me.”
“ i feel like you don’t listen to me at all.”
“ i’ve told you i want to talk about it, and you keep not letting me talk about it.”
“ the reason i’m struggling so much in the first place is because i’ve kept bottling it up for so long.”
