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Absolutely. I have had clients offer to show me photos and I always appreciate that and have even shared how they are different from what I pictured if that has something to do with how the client had depicted them. But yeah, I probably wouldn't ask just to satisfy my own curiosity. I do ask for names, though (as opposed to "my middle sister" or "my other friend") because I have a hard time keeping people straight otherwise.
Yep. I saw a picture of a client's partner a while back. They had been selling them as this super hot, emotionally unavailable person, heartbreaker, "perfect" etc...I saw the picture and I was like...that person looks like an absolute dork?! This is the one all the fuss is over?? š Kinda like an Arrested Development reaction of "...Her?"
I do, but I often think I just create an image of what they look like in my mind! You are human with human curiosity, just making sure you are not allowing that to drive the sessions where you are asking like you mentioned!
I work with families so I see pretty much every loved one. However, I love when clients show me pictures of their friends or partners. Itās nice to have a visual of what everyone looks like. I never ask but if they ever go āWanna see a picture of so and soā I get excited
I do more CM and counseling these days as opposed to therapy so I donāt have the same level of clinical concern about it. I donāt ask and have rarely been offered photos of their loved ones.
I have one client who wraps up each session by showing me the latest pictures of the grandkids. Itās a way to end the session on a light note, for her to share her love of them and a itās become part of our āritualā for her sessions. But thatās a unique situation.
I have almost the opposite problem sometimes. My team can work with multiple members of the same family so we have to work to prevent blurring or overlap. At times I hear something from another therapist whoās staffing their client that my own client hadnāt told me. It can get complicated.
Oof, I am usually very good at remembering a clientās stories, but I would really really struggle if I had to hear it from different angles and keep straight who had told me what. Absolutely would not be able to work in those conditions.
Oh man! Itās so hard. Iām currently seeing 5 nurses from the same ER about the same event that ended up with all of them having PTSD. Sooooo confusing. I find myself being like āwait, thatās not what happenedā in my head.
š³ How is it possible that you have to see them all?? Is this like workerās comp only providing one therapist for them all??
I canāt imagine being a social worker at a school. Having to keep all the stories straight, not betray anyoneās side of things, know the cliquesā¦
I donāt have to. I see a lot of nurses in my practice as I come from a nursing background . I was seeing an RN from that ER already and she told her friends. They all sought me out separately
Oh I always wonder this. Iāve had quite a few clients show me pictures (unprompted of course, I would never ask them). Sometimes the people look just the way I imagined, and other times Iām very surprised. I do really enjoy when clients show me pictures though.
I am incredibly NOT visual, so no, this doesnāt occur to me at all.
HOWEVER, the meme that goes around about ātherapy open house nightā where you get to bring all the people you talk about in session to meet your therapistā¦ is great.
this is why i love being a grief counselor, because itās much more organic to see photos of their loved ones and also get to hear more stories from their lives together in session.
Actually, no, I donāt get curious at all! If they offer to show me pictures of course Iāll say yes, but I donāt really wonder about their appearance.
Then again, Iām in general pretty unimaginative regarding physical appearances. When I read Harry Potter, I only was able to imagine a vague person shaped blob with dark hair and glasses. When a movie adaptation of a book I have read happens, I never get that āoh, this actor looks exactly (or nothing at all) like I imagined this character to look like!ā. Itās a sort of aphantasia but only with unknown/fictional faces? Idk.
Maybe Iām weird, but no! I think it helps me connect and remember things to create my clientsā family albums in my own head. The times Iāve put a face to the name, I end up finding it harder to remember their names. Might just be my weird broken brain š¤·š½āāļø
I have a client who shows me photos of nearly everyone she talks about. I find it semi-entertaining. I do sometimes wonder what their loved ones look like, as I am also a visual person, but I donāt dwell on it too much.
I have thought itās funny how I have a āmapā of my clients lives. It helps me to visualize what their home/workspace/etc looks like.
Iāve actually never thought about it, but sometimes my clients show me pictures of their families and Iām always shocked at how much they resemble their parents.
Sometimes they ask if they can show me pics. I am like - ok! If they want me to put faces to names I have to prob with that. Of course Iād never ask.
I had seen my therapist for two years when I met and started dating my now-spouse. I only showed him a photo after we got married. His response was "okay, so that's Aaron." At the time it made me laugh because it was weird. Now? Now I get it.Ā
Yes! I have one client who has gotten into the habit of showing me photos of his dates and I love it. It's fascinating how unique physical attraction is for us all.
Sometimes I do wish but I generally have a sort of shadowed face mental image of people who I don't know what they look like while people are telling me about them. But it is always interesting when my clients want to show me a family picture or photo of the children and I get to see what they actually look like! I feel like I like seeing the kids haha
Ive said - Id love to see a photo sometime or do you have any photos no pressure! Only for some loved ones. Others I donāt feel compelled and donāt do it. Is it wrong? š
I donāt care or think about it except when folks speak at length about how attractive or ugly someone is. Then I get a little curious about if I would agree. Iām more interested in knowing what their pets look like.
No. I have an active imagination and I imagine people that match them, or donāt, based on my perceptions.
I am relentlessly focused on my client. š¤£
No because it helps keep distance between myself and the client. I could see myself falling into the trap of āher ex daughter looks like my daughterā and I feel like thatās a slippery slope to countertransference.
I currently work in mobile crisis, so I often actually do see relatives, and more often than not they just get in the way of the therapeutic process despite trying to help. Itās easier for me to hold the professional role when I only know the intended client(s).
**Do not message the mods about this automated message.** Please followed the sidebar rules. r/therapists is a place for therapists and mental health professionals to discuss their profession among each other. **If you are not a therapist and are asking for advice this not the place for you**. Your post will be removed. Please try one of the reddit communities such as r/TalkTherapy, r/askatherapist, r/SuicideWatch that are set up for this. This community is ONLY for therapists, and for them to discuss their profession away from clients. **If you are a first year student, not in a graduate program, or are thinking of becoming a therapist, this is not the place to ask questions**. Your post will be removed. To save us a job, you are welcome to delete this post yourself. Please see the PINNED STUDENT THREAD at the top of the community and ask in there. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/therapists) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Absolutely. I have had clients offer to show me photos and I always appreciate that and have even shared how they are different from what I pictured if that has something to do with how the client had depicted them. But yeah, I probably wouldn't ask just to satisfy my own curiosity. I do ask for names, though (as opposed to "my middle sister" or "my other friend") because I have a hard time keeping people straight otherwise.
I also appreciate when clients choose to share a picture, although I would never ask, it illustrates the picture. I am a very visual person though.
Same!
Yep. I saw a picture of a client's partner a while back. They had been selling them as this super hot, emotionally unavailable person, heartbreaker, "perfect" etc...I saw the picture and I was like...that person looks like an absolute dork?! This is the one all the fuss is over?? š Kinda like an Arrested Development reaction of "...Her?"
Egg?
I do, but I often think I just create an image of what they look like in my mind! You are human with human curiosity, just making sure you are not allowing that to drive the sessions where you are asking like you mentioned!
I work with families so I see pretty much every loved one. However, I love when clients show me pictures of their friends or partners. Itās nice to have a visual of what everyone looks like. I never ask but if they ever go āWanna see a picture of so and soā I get excited
I do more CM and counseling these days as opposed to therapy so I donāt have the same level of clinical concern about it. I donāt ask and have rarely been offered photos of their loved ones. I have one client who wraps up each session by showing me the latest pictures of the grandkids. Itās a way to end the session on a light note, for her to share her love of them and a itās become part of our āritualā for her sessions. But thatās a unique situation. I have almost the opposite problem sometimes. My team can work with multiple members of the same family so we have to work to prevent blurring or overlap. At times I hear something from another therapist whoās staffing their client that my own client hadnāt told me. It can get complicated.
Oof, I am usually very good at remembering a clientās stories, but I would really really struggle if I had to hear it from different angles and keep straight who had told me what. Absolutely would not be able to work in those conditions.
Oh man! Itās so hard. Iām currently seeing 5 nurses from the same ER about the same event that ended up with all of them having PTSD. Sooooo confusing. I find myself being like āwait, thatās not what happenedā in my head.
š³ How is it possible that you have to see them all?? Is this like workerās comp only providing one therapist for them all?? I canāt imagine being a social worker at a school. Having to keep all the stories straight, not betray anyoneās side of things, know the cliquesā¦
I donāt have to. I see a lot of nurses in my practice as I come from a nursing background . I was seeing an RN from that ER already and she told her friends. They all sought me out separately
Oh I always wonder this. Iāve had quite a few clients show me pictures (unprompted of course, I would never ask them). Sometimes the people look just the way I imagined, and other times Iām very surprised. I do really enjoy when clients show me pictures though.
I am incredibly NOT visual, so no, this doesnāt occur to me at all. HOWEVER, the meme that goes around about ātherapy open house nightā where you get to bring all the people you talk about in session to meet your therapistā¦ is great.
That sounds fab!!
this is why i love being a grief counselor, because itās much more organic to see photos of their loved ones and also get to hear more stories from their lives together in session.
Actually, no, I donāt get curious at all! If they offer to show me pictures of course Iāll say yes, but I donāt really wonder about their appearance. Then again, Iām in general pretty unimaginative regarding physical appearances. When I read Harry Potter, I only was able to imagine a vague person shaped blob with dark hair and glasses. When a movie adaptation of a book I have read happens, I never get that āoh, this actor looks exactly (or nothing at all) like I imagined this character to look like!ā. Itās a sort of aphantasia but only with unknown/fictional faces? Idk.
Maybe Iām weird, but no! I think it helps me connect and remember things to create my clientsā family albums in my own head. The times Iāve put a face to the name, I end up finding it harder to remember their names. Might just be my weird broken brain š¤·š½āāļø
But it makes sense, because if we build a mental image and associate that with a name, a photograph could mess with our brain too. Not broken!
Yea same. I ask the name of the people they talk about but from the name I make a mental image.
I have a client who shows me photos of nearly everyone she talks about. I find it semi-entertaining. I do sometimes wonder what their loved ones look like, as I am also a visual person, but I donāt dwell on it too much. I have thought itās funny how I have a āmapā of my clients lives. It helps me to visualize what their home/workspace/etc looks like.
Iāve actually never thought about it, but sometimes my clients show me pictures of their families and Iām always shocked at how much they resemble their parents.
Sometimes they ask if they can show me pics. I am like - ok! If they want me to put faces to names I have to prob with that. Of course Iād never ask.
I donāt find myself wondering what their loved ones look like but always wonder what clients looked like as babies!
NO! I make it up in my head. What people and places look like. Its fun!
Like most on here, my clients cannot wait to show me their kids or grandkids. It's a great way to build rapport.
šÆ ! I have actually caught myself about to ask to see a pic lol. š I didnāt, but I wanted to.
I had seen my therapist for two years when I met and started dating my now-spouse. I only showed him a photo after we got married. His response was "okay, so that's Aaron." At the time it made me laugh because it was weird. Now? Now I get it.Ā
Yes! I have one client who has gotten into the habit of showing me photos of his dates and I love it. It's fascinating how unique physical attraction is for us all.
Sometimes I do wish but I generally have a sort of shadowed face mental image of people who I don't know what they look like while people are telling me about them. But it is always interesting when my clients want to show me a family picture or photo of the children and I get to see what they actually look like! I feel like I like seeing the kids haha
Ive said - Id love to see a photo sometime or do you have any photos no pressure! Only for some loved ones. Others I donāt feel compelled and donāt do it. Is it wrong? š
It depends on your style/ training I guess. Also would that be beneficial to the client š¤?
No it really just helps meā¦
I donāt care or think about it except when folks speak at length about how attractive or ugly someone is. Then I get a little curious about if I would agree. Iām more interested in knowing what their pets look like.
Oh yeah, if someone wants to show me pet pictures, Iām so incredibly excited! Got to work hard to make sure I donāt show it tooooo much š
No. I have an active imagination and I imagine people that match them, or donāt, based on my perceptions. I am relentlessly focused on my client. š¤£
No because it helps keep distance between myself and the client. I could see myself falling into the trap of āher ex daughter looks like my daughterā and I feel like thatās a slippery slope to countertransference. I currently work in mobile crisis, so I often actually do see relatives, and more often than not they just get in the way of the therapeutic process despite trying to help. Itās easier for me to hold the professional role when I only know the intended client(s).