Hi, I've been seeing a psychiatrist regularly for more than a year now and have wanted to come out to her for pretty much all of that time, but I'm just too scared and I don't even know why. I have planned to tell her a few times but have never been able to. Has anyone else had any similar experiences? Any advice would be appreciated. bye :smilewave
Hi there, I totally understand your fear with this. I just recently took the step with coming out to my therapist and honestly it felt amazing! She's a professional and if you've been seeing her regularly for so long I don't see why she wouldn't be completely supportive and a huge help with working through all the feelings I'm sure you're having with this. Maybe just casually bring up some subjects about the lgbt community? Work yourself up to it, but only when you're completely comfortable. Best of luck and I'm sure it'll go great!! (*hug*)
A psychiatrist should be the safest person in the world to come out to. I'd say go for it. That's banking on your psy being one of the good ones, of course. One thing to note is that no matter how much you skirt around it (like above poster suggested, mentioning lgbt stuff) your psy will probably not jump ahead and say "Oh are you trying to tell me you're gay?" Because that would really be "leading the witness". You will still have to really say it.
I came out to my therapist about 6 months ago and I have been seeing her for nearly three years. I'd wanted to tell her for ages but could just never form the words. Coming out to her was nerve wracking, I was a mess, I couldn't look at her, I was a bit vague but she got the gist. Once I got through the awkwardness I was so relieved. I had a safe place to talk freely and I felt validated because at that stage I wasn't out to anybody else.
I came out to my therapist in our second session... I felt safe there and she also accepted it. It felt so great and felt even safer afterwards, because she didn't make any homophobic comments or anything. She supported me to tell my family (and even though I didn't do it then it felt good having someone who knew who I was).
I actually saw two different counselors for a while and told both of them that I was totally straight. Even then, I wanted to say, "But I also have other thoughts now and again...." I just tried to push that issue away and not deal with it, but of course it kept coming to mind. After a while, I just didn't want to say anything because they would know I had lied to them initially. I came out immediately to the person I'm seeing now, though (honestly, before really coming out to myself), and it felt amazing. It's also exactly what I need, which is the experience of coming out and talking through my sexuality before I'm quite ready to talk to my friends about it. Instead of focusing on the awkwardness, try to imagine what it will/would feel like to have that weight off your chest. I imagine therapy will feel that much better! You can do it!
I've got my first appointment with a psychiatrist tomorrow. I have previously had counselling and have seen a therapist but neither helped. I want to tell them everything but I'm terrified at the same time.
Therapy is terrifying, being vulnerable with another person is scary and working on your problems is difficult. Writing down what you want to say may help, but remember therapy is a process, you don't need to talk about everything in your first session. (*hug*)
Thanks. I'm not sure where to start I've worked out my identity issues in the meantime. However I think a lot of my issues stem from not knowing who I was. Fingers crossed I actually speak.