...I shouldn't be afraid of saything things to my therapist?

1. "I don't know." This comes up in so many situations. Sometimes it's not knowing how you feel, or not knowing why something happened, or even not knowing what to say. There's no right or wrong answer I'm looking for when I ask a question. It's okay to not know something. I get a lot of "I don't knows" about hobbies or interests lately because people don't think about what they do for fun or to relax. You're not alone in not having all the answers. Sometimes I don't know either haha.

2. Relapse. We all hear how relapse is a part of recovery but it never feels good to have to admit that we messed up. Many clients going through recovery of substance abuse, self-harming behaviors, or any other behavioral change are scared to say they slipped backwards. Sometimes part of healing is going two steps forward and one step back. Or it's just a good topic of conversation for that week's session. I'll meet you where you're at and we're going to go further addressing the elephant in the room than chatting about other things for an hour.

3. Sex. It's so taboo. We don't talk about it...with anyone! But people think about sex. Whether it's about having it, not having it, finding people attractive, fantasies, or any other reason. It can be awkward to bring up those things with your therapist. Personally as a therapist, I love those conversations because it brings a deeper understanding and depth to our client-therapist relationship. If you ever need help bringing sex up with your therapist maybe ask them what they think about it.

4. Suicide. I get a lot of clients scared to tell me they experience dark thoughts. Sometimes they're afraid of my reaction, sometimes they're afraid of saying them out loud for the first time. A common misconception I get is that I'm going to send someone to the hospital if they tell me they have dark thoughts. Not true. A lot of people don't talk about their dark thoughts, but you're definitely not alone in experiencing them. If I sent everyone to the hospital for dark thoughts I think Danbury Hospital would want to have some dark thoughts about me lol.

5. Feelings about Therapy. Generally I ask clients at our first session what their previous experiences are like with therapy. Some are good and some are bad. The biggest thing I get is client's telling me "okay" or "yes" to things because they think it's what they should say. It's okay to disagree with me! It's okay to tell me I'm dead wrong about something. It's okay to say something we're working on isn't working for you. At the end of the day, you're not disappointing me by agreeing but you're also not helping yourself either.

What's New at the Fortitude Center?

• Danielle had her baby and we're so happy momma and baby are happy and healthy. We're wishing her the best on maternity leave and looking forward to her return.