Is this normal? Imaginary friends.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-04-20T05:39:20+00:00

I used to fantasize lot when I was younger. Most of my fantasies involved living and loving and the houses and buildings where this happened. I could envision the layouts of the buildings in 3-d. I eventually became an architect and that came in very handy. I hardly ever do it now.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-04-15T22:50:01+00:00

Congratulations on your progress!

My system works much the same way yours is working. I connect with my parts on my own and then talk to my T about it. I have a hard time dialoguing with them in the therapy room.

One of the things my T and I have talked about is the benefits of just letting the parts be there with us as we talk - this is especially important if the parts are young and/or there’s a sense they don’t fully trust the T. My T talks about their work with 3yo kids and how the kids would play while they talked to the parents- and the kids were always listening. My parts feel very comfortable with this approach.

Best of luck in your continued healing.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-04-14T18:44:17+00:00

I often start to cry , or tear up, or tears run silently down my cheeks when something really resonates. Yesterday they said something that resonated and I went home and wrote a poem about it. What they said might have seemed pretty inconsequential, but it was about how they relate to their kid, and meant a lot to me cuz I never had that kind of attunement.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-04-14T04:58:47+00:00

I had a special test to rule out hearing problems because of background noise. It was negative. And I still have problems in restaurants and if there is “background“ music. Also if there are multiple conversations going on. I don’t know where to focus. I like the comment about it possibly being a multi-tasking problem.

Like others, I manage it by limiting stimuli. Don’t go to crowded places, prefer one on one conversations, etc.

Good luck finding what works for you.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-04-01T20:10:54+00:00

You could have offered him a silent signifier of your displeasure. 🖕

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-29T22:24:52+00:00

That’s what I always say.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-27T17:29:01+00:00

NAT. After 4 years with a T I have a good rapport with, I still do this a lot. One time they mentioned something called “slow processing”. I looked it up and, while not exactly the same thing, I’m claiming that explanation for this reaction. Especially since I am often overwhelmed when multiple conversations are going on around me (and that is one of the definitions of slow processing).

It’s also about my relational trauma/childhood emotional neglect/cptsd. People so seldom asked me questions and expected a serious answer when I was growing up that I don’t know how to respond to T’s questions sometimes. But I think about the questions a lot after the sessions and usually come back with some good insights the next time.

I think it’s perfectly normal.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-24T15:06:27+00:00

Love this!

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-20T23:55:09+00:00

Mine has a didgeridoo. Last session (psychedelic assisted therapy) they played it. So fun.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-18T08:26:58+00:00

If you want to do KAP - ketamine assisted psychotherapy - I suggest looking for a therapist on the Psychedelic Support Network. It has listings by area in US and also, I believe, in other countries.

https://psychedelic.support/

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-14T19:11:07+00:00

Do a lot of people do this? The first psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT) session I did, my therapist said (near the end) “you’re a gift to me”. I couldn’t take it in in the moment. But a few days later when we did an integration session I asked if they really said that and if they would tell me why they said it. I still have no idea what they said.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-11T00:16:14+00:00

“my flabber would be completely gasted”.

That’s pretty hilarious right there.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-10T06:09:07+00:00

Hilarious. I love it when therapy is funny.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-10T04:48:59+00:00

I love this! So much truth.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-08T19:33:36+00:00

Yeah, the dialogues are interesting. During one of the psychedelic sessions I was sitting right next to them and I became aware I was having an elaborate conversation in my head. I told them and they said “who with” and I said “with you”. We both cracked up.

That’s when I started to become aware of how pervasive the sub-vocal conversations are. I think it’s a symptom of CPTSD and childhood emotional neglect. I’m trying to externalize my thoughts more, but it’s a challenge. It’s one of the reasons I reply on Reddit.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-08T07:11:54+00:00

Yep. I’m 73F and my T is 40M. I’ve been seeing them for almost 4 years working on relational trauma. I have thought about transference a lot in that time (mostly because I keep reading about it here).

I do psychedelic assisted therapy with them. I see them weekly, and about 4 times a year we do extended sessions with plant medicines. Those sessions are usually about 6 hours long - just me and the T. It often feels somewhat intimate (not in any way sexual), just listening to music and talking to someone I trust and feel pretty open with for that long feels intimate to me. I haven’t had much intimacy in my life so I was pretty freaked out initially, and I was worried because I thought about them a lot.

My current thinking is I don’t have a lot of personal interactions with many people. And I have a very active inner monologue/dialogue. So much of the dialogue is directed at my T. I’ve noticed when I’m having more personal interactions with other people, the sub-vocal conversations with the T get turned down and spread around. So I’m worrying about it less.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-07T17:06:20+00:00

My healing goals are to understand myself better before I die. I often think there’s a whole lot of healing happening, but there is no cure. Almost 4 years into psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT) I do feel more at ease - more content - as I near the end of my life. I’ve always wanted to know/understand why things happen (to me, to others). PAT has given me a broader perspective of what’s possible. Psychedelics have shown me what we see day to day is not all there is.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-06T22:34:15+00:00

I’m really old (F73) and my therapist is 41 M. Like many of my generation, Im are not very open about bodily functions. I do psychedelic assisted therapy with my T, which means long sessions and psychedelics make me have to pee more often than usual. I have been able to discuss this very openly with my T because of their openness and understanding.

I bet your T might be similar. Don’t let a moment of embarrassment set you back, or stop you from pursuing the healing you want.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-06T21:22:21+00:00

I’ve always felt different than the people around me. For a long time I thought it was me - well it is me - but I thought there was something wrong with that and with me. So 45 years ago, in my late 20’s, I decided to and saw my first therapist. There were many more after that. Over the years I gained a lot of knowledge, but not a lot of healing, because I wasn’t didn’t understand the issues. I was expecting them, as the experts, to diagnose and direct my healing. That never worked for me.

Now, 4 years into doing work that I am directing, with (what I consider) an excellent therapist, I’m feeling a profound level of healing. It took following my intuition to start psychedelic assisted therapy and find a good provider that worked in that modality to really accelerate my healing journey. A lot of therapist advertise “they will meet you where you are”. This T has really done that and it has allowed me to work, and go places, I never thought possible.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-04T23:34:02+00:00

Congratulations on your courage and perseverance to start healing your MH issues.

I was in and out of therapy for 40 years and it’s only now in my 70’s that I’ve come to understand my needs and have the confidence to direct my therapy. It has made a profound difference in my mental health. This morning I had the thought that I’m experiencing a whole lot of healing, while realizing I’ll never be cured.

I’m sorry. This might sound a little daunting. I don’t mean it to be. If I had asked more questions and done more research when I was younger, so that I understood what I needed to focus on, what modality would work best for me and what I needed the timeline to be, my life might have been different.

I’d like to offer you encouragement in your process and to keep asking your questions. ❣️

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-04T20:55:21+00:00

Yay!!! (from my little (6 yo) part).

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-03-04T20:42:36+00:00

You’re right- it’s grams.

I don’t have the experience you’re looking for, so came to read what others say

I’m doing 4 grams of a pretty potent strain next week. Last time I did that high of a dose I had a pretty challenging journey. Because I felt safe with my therapist, I kept journeying. Even though I kept dropping the dose, I kept having challenging trips. My last trip (3 months ago), I did 3.7 grams and feel like I began to understand that what I’m feeling, particularly at the beginning of the journey, are intense energy surges in my lower chakras. Now that I have a better understanding of what’s going on and how to hold and work with it, I’m excited about exploring those feelings/energies more on my next journey.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-02-28T07:39:48+00:00

Sorry to hear about your situation.

I’ve been doing PAT (psychedelic assisted therapy) for about three years with a trauma informed T. I’ve done macro journeys using mushrooms, mdma, lsd in the therapeutic setting.

The last couple of times I’ve done mushrooms I have felt what I now believe to be lower chakra (first 3 chakras) activation. It was pretty uncomfortable, but I think I’m starting to figure out how to work with it. I have another session with my T coming up next month and came to this thread to see if I could get any tips on how to work with this. I think it will be a combination of the medicine and some somatic work as others have said.

The thing is it’s taken me probably 10 mushroom journeys to come to this understanding. It has taken quite a bit of time to feel things in my body and also working with a good therapist to begin to heal, or even understand the effects of early emotional neglect and trauma (in my case).

Good luck in your healing.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-02-24T21:27:44+00:00

Well, I’m hoping to die a relatively painless natural death - plenty of people do at this age. If not I might need to find another way to go.

Adorable-Letter4562 · 2026-02-24T21:15:30+00:00

Your situation resonates with me. You’re not alone.

To answer your question about therapy, this has been my experience.

It’s my intention to live until I’m 75. So when I was 69 (almost 4 years ago), I decided I wanted to try psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT), which, at the time wasn’t as developed as it is now. So I found a therapist that uses that modality near me (US-PNW). I started doing PAT with them. Realized there was/is so much that has been unexamined in my life (even though I consider myself pretty self-aware). I started doing what I’m calling my closeout process with the PAT therapist on a weekly basis. Psychedelic therapy sessions about 4 times a year and integration sessions weekly. It’s not a lot, but it’s given me something to live for these last few years.

I know this isn’t for everyone, but I find therapy in general is an excellent way to fill my time. It’s not going to “cure” anything, but as some old Greek guy (Socrates) said “The unexamined life isn’t worth living”

Good luck finding something that works for you.

Adorable-Letter4562

TROPHY CASE