I’m a woman in my late 20s, and my therapist is a younger male—probably in his early 20s—and fairly new to the profession. I’ve noticed that I’ve been holding back from talking about my sexuality, which is a significant part of who I am. Not because I feel uncomfortable, necessarily, but because I worry about making him uncomfortable. Part of what I’m holding back includes compulsive masturbation and related sexual patterns that feel important to address in therapy.
I have shared some recent sexual experiences, and he didn’t appear uncomfortable at all, so it’s possible I’m overthinking this. Still, I’ve found myself wondering whether I should see a female therapist instead—someone sex-positive and secular. At the same time, I genuinely like my current therapist. I’m just getting back into therapy, and talking to him feels like talking to a friend. Many of my past therapy experiences felt overly clinical.
I’m aware that he may not be fully equipped or certified to help me with everything I need long-term, but in this phase of my life, he has been helpful.
i would say you have something you’ve wanted to bring up but feel slightly uncomfortable to begin. you can gauge whether you want to share more or not based on his responses. ideally he should be on board with discovering more in a clinical manner and be able to seek out patterns/motivations for the behavior.
I brought this up to my therapist. Compulsive sexual behaviors are leading me to cheating on my wife. Sometimes I say to him feels uncomfortable but I really need the help so I just go for it. I think you should just go for it, you have a very important reason for sharing it. All the best :)
It’s something important to talk about. If he’s not the right therapist for you to share that with, I’d consider switching. Generally speaking, holding back tends to thwart therapy, imo. In Neo-Freudian, you say absolutely everything that comes to mind, and it can go to very deep and productive places.
Well, I mean, if it’s something you want to speak about but don’t feel comfortable sharing with him considering he’s male and younger than you, I’d suggest perhaps seeking out a older female therapist?
Find a female therapist.