Why do I feel worse after therapy sessions, and is this normal?

[Joshua30]

I have a friend who's interested in getting into anime and asked for some anime recommendations. I realized that giving good anime recommendations requires thinking about what might appeal to someone's specific tastes.

When you're asked for anime recommendations, what factors do you consider? Do you have go-to anime recommendations for different genres or moods? I'd love to hear what anime recommendations you find yourself giving most often.

[StephenJ]

I’ve been in therapy for a few months now, and I’m starting to notice a pattern where I feel much worse for a day or two after a session. It’s like opening something up leaves me raw and scattered, not relieved. I’m curious if this is a normal part of the process, or if it means something isn’t working.

[Evelyn_S]

I can relate. After a session I sometimes feel wiped out the next day, like my brain is still sorting through stuff and I’m a bit clumsy in the afternoon.

[OliviaDC]

We once shifted to shorter sessions and lighter homework for a week, and I noticed the crash wasn’t as bad. It didn’t fix everything, but it helped a little.

[NicholasS]

I’ve wondered if I’m just more sensitive to what we talk about. The next day I might feel heavy, then by the second day I’m back to baseline.

[Luna.R]

It can be frustrating when you expect relief and get a little more noise instead. I try to remind myself that processing takes time and I’m not failing.

[Kevin_S]

Sometimes it isn’t the topic but how I’m sleeping or caffeine. If I cut caffeine after a session I recover a bit faster.

[Kenneth97]

Some days after are worse only when the session hits a specific trigger, or is it a general heaviness after talking about heavy stuff?

[Anthony_G]

I’m not sure there’s a clean answer here, and I wouldn’t pretend there is. It just feels like a work in progress.