so long, and thanks for all the fish

goddamn, filling out intake paperwork for a new therapist is always so fuckin exhausting. gotta write entire essays about my whole mental health history and my relationship with my parents before I even get to find out if I like the mfer

(I am seeking a second opinion on EMDR after my first doctor said "yep one session is all you need! you're good, good luck out there")

hoping that they give me more input on what to do wrt trauma therapy beyond just "here's a single session of EMDR; the rest is up to you!" like please I don't remember most of my trauma and I just have trauma reactions without any warning or logical reason; I need guidance 🥺

and then everyone else is like "oh shit. I guess I should include my pronouns too" and follows suit, helping normalize and encourage the behavior.

this is one of my favorite examples of a sociology lifehack: set a perfectly polite and casual example of good behavior, and anyone who wants to be in your ingroup will usually follow suit. ymmv depending on location/culture/exact interaction, but it's one of my favorite methods to employ as a disarmingly charming trans person. I've done it multiple times in group therapy, and it works like a charm every single time

my DBT therapist likes to call this kind of thing "positive emotional manipulation." everyone who is in DBT is extremely good at emotional manipulation because it's a survival behavior we learned in response to trauma, but emotional manipulation can be used in positive and socially acceptable ways-- and knowing the difference between the two is part of dialectics and effective communication. so you better believe that every time I do it in group, he notices and gives me a sly grin

goddamn, filling out intake paperwork for a new therapist is always so fuckin exhausting. gotta write entire essays about my whole mental health history and my relationship with my parents before I even get to find out if I like the mfer

(I am seeking a second opinion on EMDR after my first doctor said "yep one session is all you need! you're good, good luck out there")