Why go to therapy?

You have been judged enough for your problems by your family, friends, society and by yourself. You have been given unsolicited advice too many times before. You felt lost and confused for a while now. Things haven’t been going your way and you need to reevaluate your life decisions.

 

A therapist is not someone who will tell you what to do and she does not judge. And these are actually not the reasons why people seek counseling. People go to a therapist for a deeper experience, a healing and restorative experience. People come to counseling because they need understanding, empathy, attention, acceptance and encouragement.

Professional help is available. It’s sad that resources are available but the stigma about therapy or counseling is stopping a lot of people from taking advantage of it. I’m a counselor and my mission is to stop the stigma and to make counseling acceptable. It is time to normalize counseling just like how physical wellness and holistic practices are very well acceptable nowadays.

 

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Sometimes when we are struggling with depression, it is even harder to get up and get moving to take care of our physical health. Although our bodies do benefit from the release of endorphins through exercise, sometimes we do not even have the mental strength to get up and move. Therefore, we do need to take care of our mental health to be able to achieve an overall well-being.

The message here is, take care of yourself. If it is hard to give yourself permission to take care of yourself for the sake of healing and restoration, remember that taking care of your mental health is also one of the strongest strategic moves you can make. You deserve love and affection and it all begins with you. No one else deserves more of your love and affection than you. And counseling is a form of loving expression for yourself.

 

People are very resilient. Resilience is a precious skill. Bouncing back from an adversity makes a person resilient. A resilient person believes that whatever life throws at them, he or she can find meaningful purpose in life’s turmoil. A person who is resilient believes that he or she can influence life events. Most of all, resilience reminds you of your strengths in positive and negative experiences in your life.

Therapy has an astonishing way of showing your resilience. Wonderful things happen when you verbalize your thoughts, emotions or pains to a professional. Counseling is a process that will help you discover yourself and how you can best learn how to effectively cope with life situations such as stress, disappointments, grief, issues with self-esteem, depression, anxiety, addiction and substance abuse, etc.

Do something for yourself and take care of your mental health.