My T swears but once every couple sessions. One time she said something about approaching someone in this way so tha they won't think I'm a bitch and she said mentally kicking someones ass, damn, shit, etc. The first time she did it it was so funny and I was so shocked I interrupted her mid sentence cos I was laugjing so hard. Now I'm used to it and its not a big deal to me at all since I curse in sessions every now and then as well.

My T has sworn quoting something we have said in session a few times. And he has said, "Hella," which is hilarious, but at the time he was interacting with teen parts, so I guess I get it. But mostly, kind of "whatever" toward that. In general, he's not much of a swearer at present, but he's not uncomfortable with it either, so if that's what's honestly inside of me, I let it out without fear. For the most part, I very rarely swear excepting teens, and T almost never does.

T1: All the time, from the first day I met her... she's said she swears during the first time she meets with a client because that's just her really relaxed style and some people don't like that but she does client focused therapy where the T is supposed to be sorta... out there. It's not like she's a sailor or swearing inappropriately but it's appropriate and about the level of swearing I do. I like when she will say "WTF" about some stuff.

T2: Has sworn only once... I swear to her SOMETIMES but I always feel really bad about it. She says it's okay, it's releasing anger or is a 'fight' response but I still feel abusive in some manner. Even though she doesn't swear though she is very tough... just like my T1.

My T does, occasionally.

Which I find really ....relaxing?

It just makes it feel like whatever we're talking about is a natural proper conversation, where she isn't concentrating on saying the 'right' thing, which I appreciate.

**I swear too... I apologized initially for it..but she told me that if something was "F-ing pissing me off"...then I should get to say so accordingly.. etc.

I have never heard him swear, I don't think he does. I do swear mildly (like "damn" or "what the hell" or "freaking" - is this considered swearing at all?) and I think he finds it funny. Maybe he's just waiting for me to give him a big one, that would get his attention :P

i swear and my T swears. i do watch it in front of the kids. we've all heard everything so i dont' think it's a big deal. makes me feel more comfortable. makes him seem street-smart and i rather like that.

My T sometimes swear, like if I am talking about some person and it happend something (that was not my fault) then he say like , some people are assess, or jurks, and sometimes life is just plain hell , I think it is also diffrent how we know them and they know us, like for me , I dont mind ,

Interesting thread... considering I was just talking about this with T!

T swears rather loosely - just drops the occasional curse out so naturally most probably wouldn't even notice it. When T swears it isn't mean or harsh at all, it just fits, and comes out as calmly as any other word she says. I know she does it with me partially because I am so uncomfortable with cursing, especially the harsh words. I rarely, if ever, swear.

Pdoc... on the other hand... swears like a sailor!

Hearing the harsh curse words usually upsets me, but T is desensitizing me little by little, so now my cringes aren't as visible when some drops the f or b word.

Hardly ever. He has once or twice used very strong language and I think I went into shock slightly and then had to breathe deep to not laugh with shock.

I don't actually mind, but he is so gentle and mild mannered that it comes a bit out of the blue and he even SAYS the word so sweetly and nicely too, so I have to double take.
anyway, it has allowed me to use strong language occasionally so yes, the /f*CK word gets said by me sometimes now too.
Us English, you have to laugh...

My T rarely swears, but she has sworn a few times when talking about my abuser. Once I got over my shock, it moved me that she could be so angry about someone on my behalf.

starfishy

Not that much. In one of my first sessions with him, he thought I was getting frustrated that I wasn't getting my point across, and he told me I should tell him, "Go to hell, you aren't listening to me!" (I laughed so hard because his office is in a church - waiting for him to get struck by lightning, you know.) And he has said (and emailed me) that he's "pissed off" when I tell him he doesn't care about me or when I won't let it sink in that he does.

This question is so thought-provoking for me for some reason! I actually don't enjoy anyone swearing, let alone my T. My husband knows if he ever calls me the B word, we're done; that's how strong I feel about it. And this is the weirdest thought of all: my parents and my first ex-husband never swore and he told me (smugly) that people only swear because they lack the intelligence to know other words to say instead. And I know hearing my T tell me he's "pissed off" gives me that jolt, like thinking wow my parents and Greg would have their noses so high in the air right about now if they heard you say that, and I guess knowing that they would think less of him for saying "pissed off" instead of "angry" makes me reflexively feel bad for my T.

Hmmm, interesting. ~D.

My T curses occasionally usually for emphasis and most often when he's expressing something I would say.

I had been seeing him for a while and was very careful about my language, but one session I came in really angry about something and ripped loose. When I'm angry,my language can get quite bad and my diatribe was littered with F-bombs and references to the offspring of female dogs. When I finally ran down and was calmer, I apologized to my T for my language. His response was actually pretty strong. He told me that adults talk that way when they're angry and that we often sanitize things too much, and I should use any words I wanted to. I have often wondered if he regretted that. But more seriously, I really appreciate that when I'm really emotional, I don't need to edit myself. And he uses a curse word just often enough that I can manage not to be self-conscious about it.

Great question.

AG

Occasionally T will say "damn" or "hell" for emphasis, but that's about it.

I never swear at all and tend to be very understated in how I express myself in general, so it could be that T is taking her cue from me and that she is much freer with her language with other clients. I sometimes suspect this is the case because T seems to have a bit of fire in her and when she does "swear", does so with gusto, lol.

I'm a potty mouth, but tried not to use cuss words in therapy. Then one session I was ask to describle how I felt about a situation and could not think of a non derogatory word and I said "I well it feels like a cluster-f*ck.

T looked at me and said I understand that! Hum a cluster-f*ck.

So yes the profanity does fly in session at times.

kansas

"sucks" is as bad as my T got....and it was in regard to my needing to say 'it sucks that my mom didn't give me all I needed as a child.'

yes we've both said shit, but it wont get too out of hand. its funny and a way to break the ice, we both have cheeky sides to our personalities so its nice!

My T used to swear, but he said he was trying to change that (he used to drop the f bomb frequently) and he did. I can't remember him swearing lately... at all.

Yes- good topic.

Never.ever. My T is a christian counselor (not to say that christians don't curse) but she makes it a point to model what she expects out of clients. I am not a person who swears much and haven't in therapy so far. I feel if I ever did that she would be ok with that if it was in an appropriate moment. I think if T cursed I would be blown over.

edited to add: I think if a T cursed A LOT it would seem unprofessional to me but that's just my opinion!

mine does but only when appropriate - I think she enjoys the freedom to swear with me - I reckon I'd qualify for the olympics but many people don't even notice that I do!!!

Morgs, you make me laugh. Trust an Aussie to make a competition out of swearing - and an Olympic sport at that!

Ditto to your story. I could qualify myself and regularly let rip with a few appropriately placed words to describe situations or to add emphasis. My T says it when appropriate or when describing what I said ....