Better word than "Alien"

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I told my therapist there were times growing up that I felt like an "Alien".

She invoked CBT and asked me if I could thing of a more positive word than "Alien".

Feeling a bit contrary I listed all the words I had been called that were decidedly WORSE than "Alien".

So: What word would you call yourself (or like to be called) to replace "Alien" ?

Show her the thesaurus page. Not many choices.

If she says she's got a better one tell her you've got a word that rhymes with orange to sell her.

Isn't that just like Earthling humans, telling us what to say or do all the time and nearly always being wrong.

"Eccentric" and "Autistic Adult" were the best I could come up with. She reminded me that I don't have an official diagnosis yet.

I like Mr. Spock. (He is only half-Alien).

Tell her that you're ok with "alien".

And when she asks you "why?" just say:


https://youtu.be/nDKDBd22lNM

Nonconformist

Outsider? Outcast? Second-class-citizen? Leper? The N-word? Oh, wait, they're negative terms.

I don't see what she was trying to do really. I get that CBT is about replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, and I see some merit in that if the negative thoughts aren't realistic, but if you felt like an outcast, you felt like an outcast, and I don't see the point in whitewashing the fact. Sounds like she was trying to apply CBT to everything you said, as if s**t never happens, and I don't see how her way of helping you could possible work. But maybe I'm missing something.

Yeah, I also think that was an improper application of the principles.

Foreign native.
Or a native foreigner if that fits more.


Nonetheless, I do not feel 'home' all the same.
It never goes deeper than 'familiar and enmeshed'.

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Not sure what the therapist is trying to accomplish.

If you feel like an outsider, and feel isolated, and dont fit in with the ways of the locals, then 'alien' is a good metaphor.

Better than 'ret*d'. Or like that.

But maybe the therapist wants you to get into a proactive mindset. So you could view yourself as an 'observer', or 'anthropologist'.

^ LOL i hadn't thought of it that way

If you are allowed to use more than one word, then you could say you feel like an educated city man visiting a rural village where people are very narrow-minded and exclusive, or something like that. That's not too negative about yourself, although "alien" is the simplest and most fitting word in the context.

My therapist has adopted several children from foreign countries.
Perhaps the word "Alien" for her carries especially negative connotations.