Tessi Muskrat

Healer, lover, curator of stories, seeker of beauty.
Introspective counselor in training, queer relationship anarchist, nurturer of post-traumatic growth.

[Dean Abbott @DeanAbbott]

I'm seeing a bunch of anti-therapy takes this morning, and all of them seem to have misunderstood the main point of therapy.

The main point of therapy is not to feel better.

The main point of therapy is not to get a diagnosis you can identify with.

The main point of therapy is not even to change your behavior.

The main point of therapy is to enter into a relationship where it safe to make the unconscious conscious.

[Jonathan Shedler @JonathanShedler]

1/ Pro tips for therapists🧵

At first appointment with a new patient/client, there are three things you want to find out

1️⃣What's wrong?
2️⃣How are they hoping therapy can help?
3️⃣Why now?

Some elaboration on these 3 things...
➡️ People don't come to therapy for sport. They

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

@drclairetaylor I have an electric kettle in my library area and a regular one in the kitchen. I'm an American counselor who works in an office in which all 3 counselors have their own electric kettles, plus one in the waiting room for guests.
Also, a true tea drinker never microwaves water.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

That's the dream

[klaudia @ anime expo @kaludiasays]

a free palestine, a united ireland, an elon-less twitter, an AI-less internet. in my lifetime!

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

@MeganNesson @LauraRbnsn I witnessed a bison attack the one time I was in Yellowstone. Due to kids breaking all the rules about bison (they were throwing rocks at them). A woman was gored. I overheard the parents laughing about it later. Rarely have I been that angry.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

Yes.

[Jonathan Shedler @JonathanShedler]

1/ One of most important things I've learned:

Severe personality problems find *camouflage.* No one thinks “I’m a sadist” or “I'm a malignant narcissist.”

They find a belief system/social group that validates their most hateful, destructive impulses & construes them as virtues.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

This shit is so infuriating.

[Neurologist Mom @NeurologistMom]

I remember the time when I gave birth to my daughter. They had to keep me in the hospital for 10 days because I wasn’t feeling well. Every time I tried to stand up, I fainted. At one point, I even stopped breathing, according to my husband. He panicked and called a friend who was a cardiologist. The friend’s response was, “You know, sometimes our wives just want attention because they’re going through a hard time.” My husband got angry and insisted that someone be sent to check on me. When the resident came, my husband simply said, “Just watch.” He helped me stand up, and I don’t remember what happened next. When I regained consciousness, I saw a room full of doctors around me, all in a panic because I had stopped breathing again. That’s when they realized it wasn’t just an “attention-seeking” move.

Why am I telling you this? I’m not sure—maybe because I feel that many women, especially those with chronic and complicated illnesses, have had similar experiences. If you want to share yours, quote this with #MedicalMisogyny.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

Okay, but @StephenKing using a scene from the movie version of "The Shining" as a way that a character describes his experience in "Calling of the Three" (in the Dark Tower series) is next level meta something and I have deep respect for it.
And yes, I'm decades behind the curve.

[Mark Thompson @Son_of_a_Thomp]

I’m not sure people are aware how many Americans want to never think about Trump ever again, until the end of time.

[Naefertiti @R_Rechail]

Tim Walz is governor of the only state in the country with free phone calls to jails under their DOC. It’s a taxpayer funded model and ensures that people maintain familial connections despite incarceration. He’s alright by me! I’m with it.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

Yes.
This.

[Elie Mystal @ElieNYC]

If I'm reading the reports right, it appears the French did some French shit and a bunch of middle-state American are like "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" while a bunch of coastal Americans are responding accurately with "It's France?"

[Zach W. Lambert @ZachWLambert]

I just keep thinking about the reaction from most white evangelicals to the video of Sonya Massey being murdered by a cop (not a peep) compared to their reaction to drag queens at the Olympics (massive outrage).

It’s sickening, but sadly, it’s not surprising anymore.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

@taylorsschumann Baking soda and water paste, applied as quickly as possible after the sting.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

This is what hope feels like.
Oh.
I remember.

[Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1]

Vote .org just announced a nearly 700% increase in daily voter registrations — more than 38,500 new registrations — in the 48-hour period following President Biden's announcement.

This figure marks the single largest number of voter registrations over a 48-hour period during the 2024 cycle.

Younger voters between 18 and 34 accounted for 83% of new registrations.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

Yes.

[Sophia Proneikos @Pergament_F]

Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:

"It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.

"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.

"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!

"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

This is very important.

[Jonathan Shedler @JonathanShedler]

1/ The “evidence-based therapy” game—explained with 🥞

I have a pancake recipe. I do randomized controlled trials (RCTs) showing that people like my 🥞 better than getting no breakfast at all

My🥞are now “evidence-based” & yours aren’t. I start telling everyone my🥞are superior

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

Oh, I love this.

[James Lucas @JamesLucasIT]

Thread of movie scenes inspired by art 🧵

1. Shutter Island - Klimt's Kiss

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

Deep agreement.

[Dr Jay Watts @Shrink_at_Large]

Borderline personality disorder is not an 'illness of character'.

It is an umbrella term that enables contempt, abuse and neglect both in and outside of psychiatric services.

It covers up complex trauma, neurodivergence, discrimination, bipolar and PMDD, sometimes fatally.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

Sometimes I don't get to say this clearly or loudly enough: Mental illnesses are real illnesses that makes people ACTUALLY sick. Unlike some other illnesses, MI can make people we love do things we don't understand, fear, or are harmed by. It's still illness. And still treatable.

[Tessi Muskrat @MuskratTessi]

@grufaine My heart is with you. It's so hard. So very hard.