My therapist is going really strong on finding ways to stop a trigger before it happens, changing behavior, and wants me to focus more on the present and get away from the past. For some reason, I don't find the approach very helpful. How to address this to her?
I left my session feeling very invalidated and upset.
I feel like I'm neglecting a lot of my origin wounds (that can be very insightful into why I react the way I do) with this approach. I'm not sure exactly what approach she's using. When I try to focus only on the present, there's that part of me that gets pissed off that I'm not listening to it or paying attention to it. She's really big on reframing negative thoughts and wanting me to realize all the things that I have right now that make me feel good, but that's the problem...I don't feel good. I feel like I'm triggered all the time. I know why, but I also don't.
I feel like she's attempting to fix me, and not necessarily listen or understand why I feel like I do. I'm in therapy because I want someone to listen to me and also talk me through my trauma, and by doing that in some way or form, I typically can find ways to better adjust myself. And, if I want clear advice/guidance on how to "fix" or whatever, I straight up ask.
I feel like I don't have a connection with my body. It just feels what it wants, and my brain is confused. Sometimes I have ZERO reason to feel like shit, but my body decides it's going to feel like shit. It SUCKS!
I want to address this, but I don't want to seem stubborn or like I don't want to change and just want to stay stuck in the past. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?
At the moment, she suggested that I take note of my triggers and that we discuss them in the next session.
A lot of the past modalities that past therapists used that I liked were IFS, emotion-focused, IST, narrative therapy (I think?), attachment-based, somatic, and person-centered. I do very little CBT/DBT (typically worksheet stuff when I'm looking for other coping skills). I'm in a community-based program where my therapists are being supervised as they train for their LMFT degree. I switch therapists every year.
Posted Jul 2, 2026, 7:43 PM UTC