Ask Kati Anything

Licensed therapist Kati Morton discusses the differences between trauma from a single event versus multiple traumas, the purpose of scheduling next therapy appointments, ways to stop ruminating, the link between self-harm and validation, and the challenges of setting boundaries in therapy and relationships.

Licensed therapist Kati Morton discusses being your own victim and avoidant attachment in therapy. She addresses loneliness in introverts, supporting partners with trauma nightmares, and the difference between agoraphobia and complex PTSD. Additionally, she talks about the effects of parental reactions to self-harm struggles and provides mental health resources.

Licensed therapist Kati Morton discusses therapy hangovers and positive self-talk, therapist enjoyment, seeking support during hard times, and challenges in discussing eating habits in therapy. She shares insights from her work in community health clinics.

Licensed therapist Kati Morton discusses trauma dumping, feeling overwhelmed in the evenings, internal family systems therapy, managing depressive episodes, handling codependency in friendships, and the importance of feeling our emotions authentically.

This week licensed therapist Kati Morton explains how we can discover our true self, if CPTSD is a lifelong struggle, and why we can want our therapist to worry about us. She also talks about whether or not we can develop an addiction to psychotherapy and why being pampered as a child can cause us to feel helpless a lot. Finally, she helps us figure out how to support people with dependent personality disorder without enabling them. 01:05 Ask Kati Anything ep.210 podcast summary 01:42 How can you discover your true self? In my last therapy session, we discovered just how much I get my self-worth, and feelings of love and appreciation, from helping others. Helping around the house, overworking, generally never sitting down to enjoy my own time. I'm now at the point that I don't know who I am or what I like. How do you start to figure out your true self? 08:38 My question is, with medication, therapy twice a week, and EMDR, will you continue to have C-PTSD symptoms for the rest of your life? Does it ever get to a point where you completely resolve most, if not all, of your symptoms and not require therapy and medication, or, is this a life sentence? 13:02 I want my therapist to worry about me. I wish I could tell her this straight up. But if I do, she'll stop worrying about me. It's like.... Love (I guess?) I've never received and to be honest... I enjoy it. But. There's a huge "BUT." Me making her more and more worried to her as a therapist essentially means that therapy she's providing is not working, right? And that she can and actually should terminate me. Right?!? Which is my biggest worry. That she's gonna leave me. And then my little mind comes up with "Whatever, I'm unlovable anyways so it's fine. I'd leave me too if I was her. I'm not worthy of love. I'm just a pain in the ass and she puts up with me only because I pay her." And then there comes a point where I want to push her away because I've come up with "she doesn't love me so there's no point to get sicker", which to her probably seems like I'm getting better. And. Then she wants (actually suggests but in my mind it translates to "wants") to reduce our sessions from twice a week to only once. And to me it means that she's actually gonna leave because I'm worrying her less. Not more. Such a great mind fuckery. Sorry. It is though. And then I want to get sicker again. Oh. I have anorexia. I don't think I mentioned it anywhere. Is there a way to stop this? 19:57 Is it possible to develop an addiction to psychotherapy? I think I might have it, because I don't have any other safe places where I can express my emotions, or be me. Unfortunately, despite my efforts, it's not always possible to live in a happy environment, or leave it. 25:10 Could you please talk about learned helplessness due to having been spoiled and pampered as a child? I can't get myself to be active and struggle to feel responsible for my own life. 30:16 Could you talk about how family members can love and support people with dependent personality disorder without enabling them? Where is the line from support to enabling?? PUBLISHED BOOKS Traumatized https://geni.us/Bfak0j Are u ok? http://bit.ly/2s0mULy A great way to support my channel is to check out our sponsors buy using these links: Amazon: https://geni.us/4J8wb Instacart: https://instacart.oloiyb.net/y2j2GB ONLINE THERAPY While I do not currently offer online therapy, BetterHelp can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/kati (enjoy 10% off your first month) SOCIAL X: https://twitter.com/KatiMorton TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@katimorton Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katimorton1/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katimorton Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/katimorton1/ Support on Patreon: https://www.katimorton.com/kati-morton-patreon/ PARTNERSHIPS Linnea Toney linnea@underscoretalent.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Licensed therapist Kati Morton discusses therapist validation, inner child work, therapy challenges, emotion regulation tips, and addressing therapist assault. Topics include doubting therapist's intentions, struggling with inner child connection, therapy not helping, and navigating attachment issues in therapy.

Licensed therapist Kati Morton discusses overcoming feelings of fake relationships in therapy, supporting students without triggering oneself, identifying narcissistic traits, processing emotions, managing shame, and addressing trauma and boundaries. She emphasizes the importance of validating feelings, establishing trust, and practicing self-care to navigate challenging emotional situations in therapy and in working with students.

Therapist Kati Morton addresses challenges in eating disorder recovery, discussing letting go of behaviors tied to identity, handling romantic feelings for therapists, seeking therapy as a teenager, returning to exercise post-recovery, and navigating emotional sharing without oversharing.

This week on Ask Kati Anything, licensed therapist Kati Morton discusses the line between normal sibling relationships and emotional abuse, shutting down in therapy, and how to know if we are oversharing. She explains how mental illnesses can sometimes follow patterns in their symptomatology, why we can struggle with self care, and our urge to diffuse situations with laughter. Questions & timestamps: 1. Where is the line between normal sibling relationships and emotional abuse? My therapist seems to think my sister is emotionally abusive, but aren’t all siblings aholes to each other? 00:36 2. My question is about shutting down in therapy and being unable to talk during a therapy session. Recently I have been looking for a new therapist, but I haven't been able to find someone that I'm comfortable with. The problem is that in the first 1-2 sessions I shut down and feel unable to talk. Different therapists handle this differently, but for the most part they just let me sit there. I have spent entire sessions in shut down mode and we just sit there doing nothing.... 05:41 3. I'm wondering if you can talk a bit about "oversharing". I feel like it's a relatively-new term to me, and I'm wondering how to tell if someone is doing it. Is it OK to have some people we tell literally EVERYTHING to, even when it's TMI? Or are there some things that should always be private? In cases where we've... 15:03 4. Why is it the case that mental illnesses "follow patterns"? In the sense that they can be categorized into illnesses. Like why is it "natural" to get addicted or get an ED when something is missing in life. Why are these patterns natural consequences that happen for so many people even if one does not know of the existence of these illnesses?" 25:19 5. My question is why do I have trouble engaging in self care and having a hard time finding coping skills that work for me? I have things that I have enjoyed doing in the past but just can't seem to do any of them. Can I count tv watching and internet scrolling self care? I know I need some coping skills if I want to deal with childhood trauma (not sure I want to go there). Can coping skills also be self care and vice versa? 30:50 6. I'm an awkward laugher. My way of diffusing situations used to be to make them lighthearted- that was literally my role. It's so ingrained into me now, that it's just instinctively what I go to, even when it's really not appropriate. I feel like I've also used it so much in every part of my life, that I don't really feel anything. Everything is just... a big joke? I feel like I physically can't even stop it now. I don't even know where to begin in correcting this, or if it's even fixable now so any tips would be appreciated! 36:18 -------- MY BOOKS (in stores now) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Traumatized⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Are u ok?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ONLINE THERAPY While I do not currently offer online therapy, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BetterHelp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ can connect you with a licensed, online therapist, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://betterhelp.com/kati⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠PATREON⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.katimorton.com/kati-morton-patreon/ YOU CAN SUPPORT THE CHANNEL BY SHOPPING WITH OUR AFFILIATE LINKS ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instacart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PARTNERSHIP Linnea Toney linnea@underscoretalent.com PLEASE READ If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call a local emergency telephone number or go immediately to the nearest emergency room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week licensed therapist Kati Morton explains why it can feel so bad when our therapist is proud of us, how we can end therapy when we have attachment issues, and how therapists alter their treatment depending on our diagnoses. She then talks about why an eating disorder often comes with a food obsession, what we can do when we are terrified of people not liking us, and finally, she walks us through what to do with our complicated feelings towards an abusive parent. Questions & timestamps At the end of a super emotionally charged session with my therapist where I shared something really difficult that I’ve never talked about with anyone, my therapist said, “You’re doing it!” I knew she meant that I was healing but I felt really shitty during the session and for days afterwards. How do you know when you’ve worked through something and have fully processed it? 1:23 Could you please talk about ending therapy while having attachment issues? My therapist is pregnant and will be going on maternity leave in a few weeks. I've actually been thinking about ending therapy for quite a while but the fact that my therapist is now leaving and effectively ending the therapy has triggered feelings of abandonment in me. I suddenly feel mentally really bad again. 12:28 I was wondering if therapists change the ways of doing therapy based off of the diagnosis the client may have. Would a therapist work differently with a client who had Bipolar 2 vs a client who has ADHD or from one who has OCD? I hope this question isn’t too complicated and I just want you to know I love your work! I am always excited to see your videos every week! 22:43 Why is it that restrictive eating disorders often include an obsession with food, even though it’s the thing we’re avoiding? I’ve been highly restricting for about 2 months and have become kind of obsessed with grocery stores. I go anywhere from 3-5 times a week, usually making small purchases each time. I have a ton of snacks and “binge food” in my room that I’ve accumulated, but don’t eat. It’s like I’m punishing myself by having food in sight that I don’t allow myself to have. I spend so much time on grocery apps/websites analyzing nutrition labels and filling imaginary carts with things I wish I could eat. All of this takes up so much of my time and headspace. 25:58 I’m terrified of people not liking me. I don’t know why but if I feel like if I mess up or am annoying or something people aren’t going to like me and they won’t want to hangout with me anymore and they will leave me. I'm so afraid of this that I... 31:09 Can you talk about dealing with conflicted feelings towards abusive parents? I need distance to feel safe enough to work through trauma from csa, but at the same time I do miss them, love them and don‘t want them to be sad. I feel like a huge disappointment to them. I don‘t know how to keep the relationship, how to be a good daughter. 37:42 ______________ MY BOOKS (in stores now) ⁠⁠⁠⁠Traumatized⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Are u ok?⁠⁠⁠⁠ ONLINE THERAPY While I do not currently offer online therapy, ⁠⁠⁠⁠BetterHelp⁠⁠⁠⁠ can connect you with a licensed, online therapist, please visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://betterhelp.com/kati⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠PATREON⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.katimorton.com/kati-morton-patreon/ YOU CAN SUPPORT THE CHANNEL BY SHOPPING WITH OUR AFFILIATE LINKS ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instacart⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠ PARTNERSHIP Linnea Toney linnea@underscoretalent.com PLEASE READ If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call a local emergency telephone number or go immediately to the nearest emergency room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices