Therapy is an opportunity to understand your feelings, behaviors and thoughts in a different way. There are times when the challenges in life may lead to anxiety, hopelessness, depression, helplessness and despair. You may be feeling scared, rejected, insecure, alone, and lacking direction. You may feel stuck and unsure of how to make the changes that will bring you relief. Hands down, therapy can help you find your way out of this pain.
However, what we’ve learned over the years is that everybody will likely benefit from counseling. Admittedly, as therapists, we are exceptionally biased, but we are also very experienced. Mental health counseling is likely the most accurate and safest way to really ‘see’ yourself and your life. It allows you to understand the ways in which your experiences in life are filling you up, as well as the things that are holding you back and disempowering you.
We all have triggers, repetitive patterns, coping mechanism and (quite frankly), ‘stuff’ that is ‘coming out sideways’. Sometimes it is really obvious because it negatively impacts a person’s life or relationships (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma, etc). But, sometimes what a person is experiencing may not qualify for a mental health diagnosis.
Maybe you have been feeling a mild melancholy. Or, perhaps you are high functioning and mostly happy, but you have a hard time with long term relationships. Maybe you spend too much time worrying about your children, or spend more money than you intend to, or get bogged down by feelings of guilt, shame or low self confidence. Maybe you really want to advance at work but you can’t get organized enough to get ahead.
Whether you are significantly struggling due to anxiety, depression, shame, trauma, grief, etc, or you just want make some adjustments to find more satisfaction, a therapist can help. We are trained to be able to identify, understand, and help resolve many types of mental health problems. We can also help you better understand who you are, what you want, why you are the way you are, how you can achieve what you want, and what you can do to feel more satisfied.
Your therapist’s approach and specialty will vary depending on who you work with. What a therapist offers includes insight, direction, expertise, unbiased and nonjudgmental acceptance, compassion/empathy, confidentiality, and an amazing opportunity to make your life better. You are welcome to lie on our sofa, but it isn’t required. Yes, it is possible that you will talk about your mother. You will likely be challenged, you might be asked to do homework outside of session, and yes, you are right where you should be when you come in for therapy. Welcome!
