{"id":2669,"date":"2023-05-04T10:56:45","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T10:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/?p=2669"},"modified":"2024-09-02T23:42:40","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T23:42:40","slug":"dump-it-on-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/dump-it-on-the-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Dump It On the Table!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve Got Some Emotional Baggage Here\u2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cI\u2019m sorry I\u2019m dumping all of my problems on you.\u201d How many times have I heard this from a client? It seems like it is a version of the statement, \u201cI don\u2019t know how you can sit and listen to people\u2019s problems all day long\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both, I think,  are really a person\u2019s way of checking to see if it\u2019s okay with me that they are talking about problems, that they are angry, stressed, or crying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cancel the Dumptruck\u2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important that people going to therapy understand that they are not \u201cdumping\u201d their problems on their therapists.  If they were, then that would<\/strong> be a problem.  Therapists would not be able to handle a cumulative load of problems dumped on them, hour after hour.  But that\u2019s not what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Out the Drawing Board!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Therapy sessions are not the emotional equivalent of driving a dump truck full of your \u201cissues\u2019 up to your therapist\u2019s front yard and unloading, then driving away. Therapy sessions are team efforts where two (or more) people get out a drawing board to figure out what are the problems to work on, the game plan to approach the problem, and assign who is going to do what and when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dump Them On the Table<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clients don\u2019t dump their problems on their therapists. They dump them on the table. We work on them together, as a team. I bring what I know to the table. You bring what you know to the table. It\u2019s a team effort and there will be no progress made if only one part of the team is doing their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Pick Them Back Up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clients take their problems back at the end of the session and commit to work on them alone, too. I might work on a part of them alone sometimes, meaning that I will do research or reading, or think about how to best tackle a particular problem, then bring my insights back to the therapy session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the important point is that clients, not their therapists, take their problems home with them<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are You Doing Your Part?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Are you willing to be an active member of your treatment team and partner with your therapist to develop a personalized treatment plan? Do you make your therapy appointments a priority, honor your commitments, and get there on time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you willing to learn, read, keep on open mind, experiment, do any requested homework suggested \u2026if it makes sense to you why it may be helpful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If so, then you\u2019re definitely not \u201cdumping\u201d your problems on anybody.  You\u2019re asking a professional to work with you to help you achieve your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s something any therapist would be up for!  \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr<\/em>.\u00a0Anita Sanz<\/em>, PhD, Psychologist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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