Discussing the importance of therapy and talking about your thoughts, feelings and emotions. How talking about your emotions is benefical to your mental and physical health. Normalizing therapy and looking at it from a beneficial standpoint versus a negative one.
I have been in therapy my whole life and I am not ashamed to say so. I’m actually thankful to my mother who took me to see a therapist when I was twelve years old. I am sure at the time I was not pleased at all, but I went and I listened and I was heard. I found the experience to be very helpful and I am sure that it set me on my own path to becoming a counsellor and supporting others. From that age onwards I have sought support from counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists at different points in my life, when I needed extra support and a safe place to talk about my feelings and emotions.
It never ceases to amaze me how there is still such a negative connotation attached to talking to a therapist about your problems. I think it goes deeper than seeking out therapy, talking to someone you don’t know and unloading, blabbing or babbling about yourself to a stranger, that people have issues with. I think it’s about talking about your problems at all. Many times throughout my life and career I have heard people say, “I am strong enough to handle my own problems, I don’t need to talk to someone about them”, “I don’t have serious problems that require for me to talk about them” or “it is too difficult to open up to a counsellor or therapist”. I have always thought that it takes a pretty strong individual to make the decision to talk to someone they don’t know about their life, to truly open up and expose themselves and their vulnerabilities. But that is the catch, much like how we need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to truly love, be loved and to have healthy relationships with others, we need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and to be ok with expressing our emotions.
Opening up to a stranger is not an easy process, but once you find the right fit, it can be such a beneficial and therapeutic relationship. If you are not ready to open up to a counsellor or therapist right now, but you do have things that you want to talk about, you could start with writing your thoughts down in a journal. Writing and putting pen to paper can be very helpful in releasing stress from all that we normally carry on our shoulders and in our lives.
Therapy can come in many ways, some people like to experience different avenues before they decide what works best for them. Whether it’s the right therapist, the right therapeutic method or self-care, the importance of therapy for a healthy mind and body is essential.
