My therapist, journaling, diapers and self acceptance....

[iluvdps2]

If you're going to post that therapy is dumb, doesn't work, or is a waste of money - just keep scrolling. I believe in therapy - if you have a good therapist and a good attitude, great changes can happen.

I've been going to see this therapist for a couple of years now and I've been working to become a better person. I was at the start of the binge portion of a predictable cycle and decided I would mention my diaper wearing. My therapist admitted they weren't all that familiar with this exact fetish, but was always open to learning. So we talked, and talked, and talked.

My therapist obviously did a lot of reading after our first session, but also encouraged me to do more journaling. I took the journaling to heart and soon discovered that I could write everything down, read it several times, think about it, write more stuff, and eventually at my next session I would have the courage to say those things out loud, even if it was me just reading to my therapist from my journal. The empowerment that I get from being able to say things out loud to someone, anyone, and in this case my therapist is HUGE. I started out small and comically simple, saying things like, "I enjoy wearing diapers," and "I enjoy using diapers." I told my therapist that I struggled to even speak the word d-i-a-p-e-r out loud, so I now try to never use the word "them," "it," etc. to describe diapers when I'm talking, I just say the word "diaper."

Essentially, I'm working on overcoming my embarrassment about diapers which is allowing me to accept this aspect of my life and become more comfortable with who I am - which is exactly what I said I wanted when asked what I wanted to get out of talking about my diaper fetish. Positives so far include that I've told my wife this is a part of who I am, and she was understanding and accepting - she just doesn't want to wear one. This also means that I can buy diapers openly now and not hide things, which feels incredible. I'm also wildly more comfortable with other non-diaper parts of my life. It's almost as if coming to terms with part of my life that I've kept hidden or lied about in the past is now helping me accept other aspects of my life.

For anyone that is on the fence about going to therapists and talking about stuff and trying to make your life better, just do it. If after a few sessions you don't feel like things are clicking, find a new therapist. If you are struggling to say something out loud, write it down in a journal and read it to yourself (or even out loud) until you have the confidence to say it.

(wow, that was a heck of a ramble)

 

[BenNevis]

It's great that you found therapy useful and helpful for finding a sense of self acceptance. When I brought it up to my therapist, they didn't seem all that familiar but they were completely non-judgmental and 'on my side' if that makes sense?

I can really relate with struggling to even get the words out, the word 'nappy' came up murmured and under my breath to the extent I was asked to repeat myself and feel worse by saying it more clearly. Personally, I also find journaling to be a helpful practice to keep up with in terms of organising my thoughts and it is slightly liberating to have that space when your thoughts can still exist but not causing me stress inside

 

[ronnieM]

I don't think I've ever really done therapy, just went to a psych. Was nice though, she specialized for ABDL and basically acted as a communication layer between my parents and I so they could understand better (I'm autistic and can't really convey ideas well through speech, especially complex ones about obscure psychology).

Never really considered using a psych before that, but now I'm a lot more open to it.

 

[iluvdps2]

It's great that you found therapy useful and helpful for finding a sense of self acceptance. When I brought it up to my therapist, they didn't seem all that familiar but they were completely non-judgmental and 'on my side' if that makes sense?

I can really relate with struggling to even get the words out, the word 'nappy' came up murmured and under my breath to the extent I was asked to repeat myself and feel worse by saying it more clearly. Personally, I also find journaling to be a helpful practice to keep up with in terms of organising my thoughts and it is slightly liberating to have that space when your thoughts can still exist but not causing me stress inside

I think the first time I tried to say "I like to wear diapers" out loud, it was muffled and I was staring at my shoes. The next time I talked about it with my therapist, I mentioned that I had written a lot of things down in my journal that I wanted to say out loud. It sounds so silly to describe it this way but it helped ssssooooo much.