Do you feel better going to therapy alone? Or would you rather have a family member present

Melanie717

Moderator
Staff member
Therapy should be done one-on-one, with your therapist. With any kind of “outside witness,” even a trusted family member or your spouse sitting right next to you, can you really be yourself and tell your therapist everything that’s been bottled up inside? You’d feel like you have an audience.
The whole point of therapy is to talk out whatever is truly bothering you, and it’s hard to do that when you feel like you are secretly being judged by another sitting beside you, instead of you, just face to face with your psychologist/psychiatrist.

Do you like going to therapy alone?
 
Therapy feels more effective one-on-one. It’s easier to open up without feeling watched or judged. A private space encourages honesty, making addressing deep emotions and personal struggles easier.
 
Therapy is a lot better when you have 1 on 1 sessions with a therapist, however, sometimes its necessary to bring family into a session as well.

It’s easier to open up with one when it’s only you.
 
I feel that going to therapy alone is more beneficial. It allows you to express yourself openly and work through your thoughts without the influence of others. While having a family member present might provide support, I think you need to value the personal space to reflect and grow individually in therapy.
 
I feel that going to therapy alone is more beneficial. It allows you to express yourself openly and work through your thoughts without the influence of others. While having a family member present might provide support, I think you need to value the personal space to reflect and grow individually in therapy.
One time I went to therapy on my own but my dad drove me and he sat in the waiting room. The whole time I just felt like he could hear every word I was saying. And even though I don’t keep many secrets from him, just felt weird. Like I couldn’t be myself.
 
It doesn't make any sense going to therapy with anyone in the same room with your therapist unless it's a couples therapy session. It's more effective being there alone.
 
A lot of people find it difficult to open up when in the presence of their family members and that could be a distraction. It is preferable to be by ourselves so that we can be comfortable sharing our thoughts.
 
No I would love to go alone. And I would also love to use Female therapists . They do create a more comfortable and supportive environment for clients. I don't distraction from others
 
I've been in therapy since I was 16 years old and I have always gone alone. I think it would be helpful if my parents were up to going with me but they have told me more than once that they are not interested in going to therapy with me because they will get accused of things and will have to face the truth. They would actually have to take accountability and that's not what my parents are about. My parents are about pretending nothing bad happened, they were the best parents ever and anything I went through was completely my own fault.

When I was 17 my boyfriend died from a brain aneurysm, and I was there when he passed, soon after I went back to therapy and had told my mom it would be helpful if she and/or my dad came so they could better understand how I was feeling, why I was getting set off so easily and what PTSD really meant. She told me flat out she was not interested and I could just talk to her if I needed to. Mind you, when I've opened up to her in the past she's guilt shamed me, hit me, threw things at me and became violent. So, i definitely wasn't about to open up to you her lol.

Though I think going to therapy alone is definitely helpful I think if the ones you love also went with you, they would understand you more and probably find better ways of dealing with your off days or days that you are struggling. I think if they truly love you and want what's best for you, they will go with you.
 
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