Therapy and Homework Assignments

I've been in and out of therapy for almost 9 years now. In all that time I've met more counselors and therapists than I can recall (though this is mostly because of all the different "groups" I've participated in while in school, which were largely a waste of time because every 8 or 9 weeks the current group would end with the school quarter only to start up a few weeks later with different facilitators and members—this made it near impossible for me to accomplish anything and it felt like all I ever did was start over and over and over).

I vaguely recall one therapist giving me homework to do, although I forget what he assigned me. I remember not being able to do it, not being able to make myself do it, and no one since has ever tried to have me do homework.

Except for my current guy.

Therapist J has been persistent about the assignments—it took us a while before we came upon something I could actually do, whether it was breathing exercises or writing things down—while also being careful not to force them upon me or judge me when I don't follow through. He's been good and hasn't judged me by how much I write down or how often I make the effort to write.

This is what he's been having me do:

(click to embiggen)

He gave me this list, a photocopied page from a book somewhere, of "thinking errors." J says they're more like "thinking styles," but I wonder if he's saying that to remove the explicit and harsh negative the word "error" brings—something that could make me feel extra guilty and ashamed for doing anything on the list. I appreciate that, but I think "style" maybe isn't too accurate either.

So I got myself a little blank sketchbook (which I got free from work because it was damaged product) and I write down a brief summary of something that's happened to me recently, the thinking style I used and how I used it. It's been a slow process, which is frustrating, and I don't feel I write enough or often enough (though J keeps telling me it's okay however much I write).

I'm still skeptical, but I'm trying my best. And that's progress, right?