Thinking About Therapy?
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Many years ago, I was on a college retreat. There was a man who, while attempting to flirt with my friend Chrissy, was hitting her with pillows. I jumped in trying to stop his childishness. But he easily overpowered both of us and I ended up hitting the ground, triggering a flashback to a violent memory from my childhood. Our 6’6” tall friend jumped in saved us both by taking on the assailant. I think - it was mostly all in fun for everyone - but it had awakened a trauma and I could not stop crying. I believe I sobbed for an hour. Chrissy - stayed with me the entire time. She held me while I cried, and when I finally stopped crying, she sat with me for another hour, while I told her my trauma story.
This was the beginning of my therapeutic journey, and also when Chrissy and I became best friends. Having an empathetic, caring person listen to our stories of trauma is an important part of healing our wounds. With Chrissy’s encouragement, I started to seek out therapy in various ways. Almost 20 years later, here I am, a therapist, journeying with others in their own therapy.
One of the reasons I wanted to become a therapist, is that I wanted to share with others, the freedom and healing I experienced in my own therapeutic journey. Therapy is one of the best self-care practices you can have for yourself.
When you invest time and resources to therapy, these are some of the benefits:
Time dedicated just for you. Time specifically devoted to improving your mental health and overall wellbeing. A chance to pause from the busyness of life to reflect.
Someone who cares for your wellbeing, who spends more than just the therapeutic hour with you. Therapists spend time thinking about you outside of the space for various reasons - to find the best interventions for you, consulting with supervisors and/or other professionals, reading/researching for you.
One of the goals of therapy is to learn to mother and father yourself well. The therapeutic relationship can be a transitional period where wounding in your most important relationships (attachments) can be healed and you can have a corrective emotional experience. It will take time to build a strong bond with your therapist, but I believe it is well worth it.
Being empowered to care well for yourself. Gaining freedom where there was oppression. Learning to proivde self-care to meet your needs and desires.
A therapist is just another person with similar stories of trauma and pain, hopefully just a bit further along in their therapeutic journey than you. I can attest that it is such an honor to meet, get to know, hear the stories, and hold the hearts of clients. Are you ready to begin or continue your own journey?