To tell my therapist...or not

Hello everyone! First of all, i'd like to say that i am new here. i just discovered this piece of genius on my stoned web searchings. i love it!

second... i am starting to go to a therapist in a few weeks. i feel like i need to deal with major personal shit-- but enough about that. i am wondering what you all think-- should i tell my therapist that i smoke bud daily? i had a therapist in the past, and i was honest with her. i felt that she continuously brought it up, like it was the reason i was in therapy. but i was much younger than- about 17. i am now 23. i have been smoking marijuana daily since i was 16, and i do not use it as a coping mechanism. do you guys think i should be honest with her? she is asking me if i do any drugs on my "new patient questionaire." i've never lied about my drug use to anyone in the past, but i am wondering if i would get more out of therapy if i held back... or maybe just the opposite. opinions anyone??? sorry about the novel!

 

first off welcome!

when i was seeing a shrink(who coulda guessed that shit? haha) i was completley honest about my bud smoking. He was cool and didnt care if i came to the sessions blazed as fuck, wed jsut kick it and play rock em sock em robots and talk. Therapists really need all truthful information to form a good opinion of you so lying wouldnt be my choice. If you tell half truths to your shrink, then your going to get a half assed opinion of yourself and may end up having people think your quite fucked up.

 

you really can't lie to your therapist. they need to know everything, at least everything important, in your life to get an accurate view of who you are and what you need

 

you should let them know about everything, but then again, if you're problems have no correlation to the bud, it may get you some more honest answers.

 

Tell 'em. If they tell anyone, they can get sued or something. plus that other stuff.

 

of course you should tell them. you have nothing to lose and much to gain. good luck.

 

I told my theripist that ive rolled and dropped acid and that i smoke pot all the time.... She really didnt care and they couldnt tell my parents cus it was my personial privacy....

 

First, yeah, you're going to want to tell your therapist, smoking's obviously important in your life, and if you want help, they need to know.

But further; if you smoked every day since you were 16, how do you know you're not using it as a coping mechanism? Your stoned every day, you've probably forgotten what sobriety is even like. I say that because your therapist is going to bring this up. That's a lot of smoking, more than just a recreational "hey let's get high" sort of thing. They're going to say it's dependance in one way or the other, and I agree (and before you go nuts on me, yes, I smoke too, but not that often). You can tell your therapist that you only use it for fun (or whatever your reason is), but they're not going to buy it for daily use.

 

i think some of you but not all of you missed the point. she doesnt want the therapist to know she smokes weed because hwne she did before, she felt as thought the psychologist then just linked everything to connabis. thats probably how they are tought anyway, along those lines and personal oppinion of course. so shes wondering if shed actualyl get a better indication of what is wrong because shed get everythign other than the cannabis mentions. its a special case! its not the same sort of honesty because your not preventing yourself from learning something you dont know since you are consciosuly avoiding it.

 

Still, if she smokes that often, it's obviously a major part of her life. How would leaving something so significant out be of any use?

 

how much does weed really change your psychology?

i mean, i would tell them. but shes got reason to not i mean, shes seen how her last psychologist reacts and finds it a big enough detraction from finding other issues diagnosed that shes make a thread about it

 

Well if they're a good shrink I'd let them know about the ganja and tell them exactly what's been shared here. You know, the previous one blamed it all on the herb etc, been smoking everyday and I don't think it's a coping mechanism.... The worst they could do is suggest not smoking for awhile to see if your behavior and outlook changes. But if the idea of not smoking completely and utterly freaks you out, maybe you do need to look at it.

edt: Not saying that good or bad. Some people can use it as an aid to their psyche, just depends on the case. Others smoking everyday can lead to some real problems so you never know till you honestly guage it.

 

ok, i'm a psychology major, not studying to be a psychologist but i still know what they teach, and by the time you've taken intro to psych you should know that blaming everything on the pot is asinine. clearly she had a moron for a therapist before, but that's no reason to assume that every therapist is a moron in the same way. i don't care how little importance you say you put into smoking, if you do it everyday then it is a major part of your life and something your therapist needs to know about in order to do their job right.

 

It isn't how they are taught. (I was a Psych Major/PreMed with a MS in Child Dev) the only time it is an issue, is if the therapist thinks the patient is dependent on the drug, and if it is effecting the patient's ability to function. Occasional recreational MJ use shouldn't alarm any therapist, but if the patient seems dependent on it, it DOES play into that person's psyche. (I am, however, not a therapist, I am just telling you what I know from my education.)


Honesty is the best policy. Some people DO have a problem with MJ, but most do not. Your previous experince was one of two things.

1. The therapist was unhealthily focusing on your pot usage, in a nonprofessional manner.
2. It occured to her, as trained professional, that perhaps you were dependent on it, and it may have been a problem for you.

I have no idea which was correct.

If you tell the therapist and she brings it up repeatedly ASK her what her reasoning is. If she feels EVERYONE who smokes has a problem, than you probably will do better with a more tolerant therapist, if she feels it may be part of your anxiety or depression, listen to her, she may be right. If she isn't, try to figure out why not.

 

If you want true feedback don't lie.

 

i think a conservative psychologist could very easily blame thing on drugs too much

cant you abstain from talking about drugs and then after you see how its going slip it in that your a stoner?

meh ive never been to a psychologist. id love to jut to see what they say about my head. but id never pay the prices they ask for.

 

Heh, I just got a therapist recently. Though, she is totally against pot and anything illegal, which really sucks. I was kind of counting on her support to win over my dad, but it doesn't look that way. She almost didn't accept me as a patient because I am too stubborn and will never believe her that pot is bad, other than it being illegal, I think it's perfectly alright.

 

oh yer i want a psychologit so i can debate with them on all their shit too caus i recon most psychologists are full of shit and just read their silly statistics at psychology class and then apply them to their patients. thats just from the sorts of thign i hear about psychologists around the place. another reason id like to go see one

 

There are psychologists who smoke pot.

 

seriously man, you need to drop your psychologist prejudices. sure, there are some psychologists who suck, but you're about equivalent to the people who've heard about someone having their car window broken so they assume that every black person is a thief