What a beautiful offering filled with many resources. Thank you, Kaitlyn.
I love the idea of therapy aftercare, yet I will admit, I hardly do it. I am fortunate in that I have the option to see my therapist in person. You are spot on - the sessions where we are IRL - face to face, I tend to sink slowly back into the "real" world. I'll drive home with no noise, radio off. I will drive the car slower (with zero awareness if it's even pissing any other driver off around me). I've even pulled over and just stared off at some nice scenery. I don't offer that kind of "off ramp" to myself when it's online. After a telehealth, I almost immediately bounce up- back to task master, opening a new tab or onto the next "thing."
The timing of this is great - I have a session this afternoon (telehealth) and I put aside a small notebook to check in with after. Thanks for all of this.....
I usually sit in my car for a few minutes before driving home. I don’t normally turn on the radio or any podcast. As a self employed person, I still feel guilty about being “less productive” on a therapy day but I also try to move therapy if anything particularly mentally taxing needs to happen on that day.
I haven’t done virtual therapy but have referred friends who live in state but not locally to the same practice. I can see how virtual sessions would have less of that transition and I have seen similar issues with working remotely.
I also like the idea of a small notebook! I usually wrap up in the last few minutes but I have definitely walked out of session feeling surprised I wasn’t ready to talk about something that had been weighing on me or also feeling surprised how much more I was processing something that hadn’t felt as meaningful to me out of session. Writing down any notes can feel difficult for me at times as well.
Thank you so much for the mention, Kaitlyn! This is beautifully written and such an important concept brought to life. I want to insert a picture of my collage but Substack won't let me 😂
Do you mean do you drive home in a fugue? Confused? Or want to (but unable) to melt into tears ? Or smoke and pace? Or ruminate? Colour in the remarks that were only black and white? Nervously scratch ? Pretend to listen to the radio as you rest your eyes and nap?
What a beautiful offering filled with many resources. Thank you, Kaitlyn.
I love the idea of therapy aftercare, yet I will admit, I hardly do it. I am fortunate in that I have the option to see my therapist in person. You are spot on - the sessions where we are IRL - face to face, I tend to sink slowly back into the "real" world. I'll drive home with no noise, radio off. I will drive the car slower (with zero awareness if it's even pissing any other driver off around me). I've even pulled over and just stared off at some nice scenery. I don't offer that kind of "off ramp" to myself when it's online. After a telehealth, I almost immediately bounce up- back to task master, opening a new tab or onto the next "thing."
The timing of this is great - I have a session this afternoon (telehealth) and I put aside a small notebook to check in with after. Thanks for all of this.....
I usually sit in my car for a few minutes before driving home. I don’t normally turn on the radio or any podcast. As a self employed person, I still feel guilty about being “less productive” on a therapy day but I also try to move therapy if anything particularly mentally taxing needs to happen on that day.
I haven’t done virtual therapy but have referred friends who live in state but not locally to the same practice. I can see how virtual sessions would have less of that transition and I have seen similar issues with working remotely.
I also like the idea of a small notebook! I usually wrap up in the last few minutes but I have definitely walked out of session feeling surprised I wasn’t ready to talk about something that had been weighing on me or also feeling surprised how much more I was processing something that hadn’t felt as meaningful to me out of session. Writing down any notes can feel difficult for me at times as well.
Thank you so much for the mention, Kaitlyn! This is beautifully written and such an important concept brought to life. I want to insert a picture of my collage but Substack won't let me 😂
Do you mean do you drive home in a fugue? Confused? Or want to (but unable) to melt into tears ? Or smoke and pace? Or ruminate? Colour in the remarks that were only black and white? Nervously scratch ? Pretend to listen to the radio as you rest your eyes and nap?