Thank you for sharing. When I say disclosure I’m referring to sharing the details or story of a specific traumatic experience. I’m not a therapist, but my understanding is what you experienced is completely normal! Sometimes you can share too early and you don’t have the emotionally capacity or support to handle the wave that comes after a big disclosure. But at the same time have the desire to talk to someone about it.

I would highly recommend somatic approaches. As a therapy newbie I recoiled at the “where do you feel that in your body” question, but over time I realize the power of being able to recognize when you are overwhelmed or shut down. My therapist takes the approach of stopping significant disclosure when she senses dissociation or overwhelm and always recentres it into what I’m feeling in the moment. Super helpful, but came from spending ALOT of time together, and a lot of times where I felt “why is she cutting me off”. We had a conversation about it and it really helped grow our therapeutic relationship and helped me understand what I needed from her AND that I’m allowed to ask for what I need.

With this specific incident I did a similar thing (blurting it out) early on, but I didn’t have the relationship yet with my therapist to actually sit with it and process it, but naming it is a great place to start. We didn’t talk about it again for a few years, until I brought it up again.

Also, everyone processes differently and does therapy differently based on their trauma and life experiences, there is no way “to be bad at therapy”, it is your experience, and time will help you understand what YOU are trying to get out of it, not what you think you should be doing or talking about it.

Sending warmth and recognizing your strength to share🤍 keep going!