So here are 19 of the most impactful things a therapist has said to women in the midst of their session:<\/p>\n
Some of these really resonated with me. Let us know in the comments if any of these spoke to you.<\/p>\n
1.”‘Do not accept criticism from someone you would not seek out for advice.'”<\/p>\n
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Photograph by Suzanne Tenner\/HBO<\/p>\n
\u2014u\/ladybird6969<\/a><\/p>\n 2.”When I was trying to figure out if my ex was a narcissist, my therapist said, ‘He doesn\u2019t need to be a narcissist to be an a**hole.'”<\/p>\n “I had been trying to convince myself that it would be okay not to get back together if he was a narcissist. But I hadn’t realized\u00a0he didn’t have to be a literal narcissist for me to not want to fight anymore for a relationship I never had.”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/SomeThoughtsToShare<\/a><\/p>\n 3.”My therapist said, ‘When someone dies, you need to grieve them twice. The actual person and then also the relationship between the two of you that you just lost.’ It helped me understand why I used to cry every time I thought about my grandparents who died in 2010 and 2011. I never grieved the relationships that I lost.”<\/p>\n HBO\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2014u\/family_black_sheep<\/a><\/p>\n 4.”‘Don\u2019t believe everything you\u2019re thinking. Not everything your brain says is correct or useful.'”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/RedditGets<\/a><\/p>\n 5.”I come from a high-achieving family that doesn\u2019t believe in mental illness or using medications to help with mental health. My therapist said to me, ‘You don\u2019t win any awards for being unmedicated.’ It was really difficult for me to finally accept help, but I\u2019m so glad I did. Why did I rough it out all these years when I didn\u2019t have to?”<\/p>\n Suzanne Tenner\/HBO<\/p>\n \u2014u\/Commercial-Medium-85<\/a><\/p>\n 6.”In the midst of my worst relapse into my eating disorder, my psychiatrist told me, ‘You have a problem, you aren\u2019t a problem.’ It was incredibly touching.”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/ccbabs97<\/a><\/p>\n 7.”My therapist said, ‘No woman believes her husband is capable of killing them, but it happens every day, so protect yourself and don\u2019t underestimate the danger.’ I was going through a nasty divorce, and my ex-husband was beginning to stalk me.”<\/p>\n Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2014u\/Double_Fennel_3535<\/a><\/p>\n 8.”My therapist told me that I was ‘managing my emotions<\/a> with productivity’ and I was like, ‘oh sh*t!'”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/fingerbo1<\/a><\/p>\n “It’s easier to clean than feel something.”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/Spiritual_Lemonade<\/a><\/p>\n 9.”I once told my therapist that I felt behind in life because I had not met the love of my life yet, didn’t have kids, and felt like I hadn’t found my purpose. As I approached 30, I grew even more worried and anxious. She told me that, ‘in the movie that was my life, I was only at the 30th minute, so I still had time.’ It helped change my perspective.”<\/p>\n \u00a9Miramax\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2014u\/Papaya46<\/a><\/p>\n 10.”My therapist once said, ‘If beating yourself up all the time actually worked for you, you would have accomplished all your goals by now. Maybe give another strategy a try.'”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/JustMy2CentsB4Taxes<\/a><\/p>\n 11.”I was complaining about all the things I do for my partner, all the unseen labor such as shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, making his appointments, picking up his prescription, and ordering and paying for his work boots. My therapist suggested I do the 180\u00b0 test and ask myself, ‘If our roles were reversed, would the other person do it for you?’ She also asked me to consider, ‘What would you tell a friend to do if they were in your situation?'”<\/p>\n \u00a9 Brainstorm Media \/ Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2014u\/Working_Park4342<\/a><\/p>\n 12.”My therapist told me that, ‘Relapse is part of recovery. If you slip up, that doesn\u2019t mean you have failed and can\u2019t do it; it means you\u2019ve slipped up and you can get right back to where you were before you slipped up.'”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/Indigo-Waterfall<\/a><\/p>\n 13.”I told my therapist that I didn\u2019t understand why I was so traumatized when I wasn\u2019t abused or anything as a child. She suggested that ‘maybe you weren\u2019t abused, but you were absolutely neglected, which can be just as bad.’ I had never even considered the idea that my trauma came from neglect.”<\/p>\n (c) Buena Vista Pictures\/ Courtesy: Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2014u\/Responsible-Way-9290<\/a><\/p>\n 14.”I was talking badly about myself, and she asked, ‘Would you allow someone to talk like that about a friend of yours?’ I said, ‘No, never, that’s awful,’ and she told me, ‘Then, why is it ok to talk like that about yourself? You need to treat yourself the same way you treat your best friend<\/a>.'”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/ohnoporque<\/a><\/p>\n 15.”‘Empathy burnout is real. Look who stays in your life after you have experienced it.'”<\/p>\n \u00a9Netflix \/ Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2014u\/Fragrant_Lettuce_991<\/a><\/p>\n 16.”I would worry so much about other people and tend to light myself on fire for them. And I would always say I couldn’t leave them because, ‘What would happen if I weren’t there to help out?’ My therapist said, ‘An adult cannot abandon another adult. An adult is capable of running their own lives.'”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/kitty_r<\/a><\/p>\n 17.”My therapist said in regards to my ex, ‘You already have an arsehole, you don’t need another.'”<\/p>\n \u00a9NBC \/ courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2014u\/ladyaeneflaede<\/a><\/p>\n 18.”‘You deserve a mom. Unfortunately, this woman does not act like your mom and there\u2019s nothing you can do to change that.'”<\/p>\n \u2014u\/NefariousnessMain301<\/a><\/p>\n 19.And lastly, “‘Forgiveness is for YOU, not for the other person. You forgive to move on, but they never need to know about it.’ This was a lightbulb moment for me, and it changed my life. \u2665\ufe0f”<\/p>\n \u00a9Apple TV+ \/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n![\"Person](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/f1ba5307a1ad743a6427b557f43bd54e.jpeg\"\/)
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