Have you ever thought about going to therapy but ended up being too afraid to actually make yourself go? You start to make that appointment but back out at the last minute? What exactly goes on behind those closed doors? Are counselors scary? Judgmental? Are they going to make me talk about things I’m not ready to talk about? What if my problems are just too much, even for a therapist?
What IS therapy like and how do I know if I need to go?
Often times the scariest things to do are only scary because of the unknown. If we just knew the outcome, the play by play, every detail of what was going to happen…THEN we could commit to the unknown! Is that you? It’s definitely me. I want to know EVERY detail about something before I agree to do it. Then and only then can I know it’s safe. But how many times do I tell my kiddos “Just trust me! You can do this! It’s not going to be scary at all”? Or how many times do we try that new restaurant, new hobby, new vacation spot, new workout class, new group of friends, new Church, new “thing” and it turns out the new thing wasn’t so bad after all?
Welp, therapy is just like that! It’s not so scary after all! And the best news is….you are allowed to come just as you are, the good, the bad, the ugly….word vomit all over your therapist and leave feeling 10 pounds lighter! Consider it a detox!
Imagine. You enter the counseling center. You are greeted by soft warm lights, wonderful smells of lavender, coffee, tea and water if you wish and a plush couch to plop yourself on while you wait. Your therapist comes in, greets you with a warm smile as if to say “you’ve made my day just by being here”. Suddenly you are breathing deeper, and your shoulders drop about 2 inches on each side. You feel welcome here. You feel safe here. You feel like you’ve found a new best friend.
Your first session is like a meet and greet. But it’s going to be the best nonjudgmental, open, warm, friendly meet and greet you’ve ever had. You can share as little or as much as you’d like. You can ask all the questions. Or you can spend the entire 50 minutes just getting things off your chest. It’s your session! Your therapist genuinely cares about you and your well-being. Your therapist wants you to know that you aren’t alone, that you don’t have to do life alone and that you have a support….a friend.
Well… how do I know if I even need therapy? They say therapy is for everyone. But…really??
Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you! Stigma tells us that we don’t need therapy unless there’s a crisis. But what if we made therapy a priority BEFORE the crisis? What if therapy became a natural part of self-care? Just like getting fresh air, exercise, eating those veggies, drinking lots of water, downtime away from devices, plenty of sleep, meditation, massages….we can add therapy to that list right? It’s 2022. Surely, we are starting to understand the value of mental health and mental well-being, right? Sometimes we just need a listening ear, a safe place to share. A place where we can process our thoughts and feelings in this world that is swirling all around us. A therapist once told me, “You can’t walk through life if every time you stand up you feel like someone just spun you around 100 times blindfolded.” And they were right. You do that enough and you are just constantly chasing after your balance.
We all get off balance from time to time. Life is busy and demanding. But the beauty of therapy is that it helps us process, declutter, recenter, refocus…..we find our balance again. We find ourselves again. We feel lighter from the baggage that we drop (or for some of us, the baggage that we burn). We learn how to stop using survival skills that no longer serve us well. We learn new skills. We learn new ways of thinking. We learn new ways of being. We learn more about ourselves which in turn helps us be better to ourselves and to others. It’s self-care but it’s also a priceless gift to give ourselves. Something we all deserve.
If you are interested in learning more about stress management therapy or are ready to take the next step, please reach out to us at Abundant Living Counseling of Rome. We would love to be a part of your journey.
