Therapy? Really?

 

There seems to be this whole stigma around therapy. Oftentimes its depicted in media as something people don't want to discuss, something they feel ashamed about. But come on. The reality is that therapists just want to help. Sometimes all they do is listen. That's so huge because oftentimes those of us who struggle with mental illnesses don't feel like they have safe enough people to vent, share their frustrations, and tell the truth about how they feel. 

Masking, or pretending you don't have symptoms for the benefit of others, may help in a situation or two, I can understand why we do it, but long term, it's really harmful. We need safe people to talk to. We need safe people who point out that yeah, that situation was really painful, and we shouldn't be beating ourselves up for feeling a certain way, when that's precisely how we should feel. 

Therapists, in my experience, are kind. They listen, they point out the things you're doing really well at, they point out where we've been hurt and explain some of our habits to be the result of trauma. They ask questions that get you thinking. They remind you that we don't have to have all the answers all right now.

For me, that's super helpful. I have been learning about myself and getting to know certain aspects that stem from characteristics that I have. Like perfectionism. That, mixed with anxiety, means that I have a hard time sharing my work sometimes. It means I spend probably way too much time working on things to make sure it's "right." This blog has actually been super helpful for taming that a bit. I don't spend an hour going over what I've said, analyzing how people might read it. I still worry about that in the back of my head, but you know, I'm making progress. 

All this to say, I appreciate therapists because it has really, really helped. Also, in case you're wondering, Yes. I am indeed drinking orange juice from a wine glass. Cause why not? ^_^