Therapeutic

ometimes therapy get's a bad rap. I sort of wish there wasn't so much stigma still attached to the idea.

Therapy can be so darn....therapeutic, if you let it!

I went to a counselor once in my early 20s. It was not a good time in my life - well, I take that back, it was a lot like a Dickens book "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". There were so many things that were great. But just enough things that weren't so great. I'd never gone to any kind of counseling before. But I found in 6 or 8 (I can never remember exactly how many times I went now) times I discovered amazing things about myself. Things that seem so obvious now, but I was oblivious to at the time - and so these things were affecting the way I saw myself, the way I interacted with other people, all kinds of things, that once I knew were happening, I suddenly had a lot of power to change. And the biggest changes just happen within, the small spaces where no one else can really see them. Other people might not even notice that much difference in you. But you notice and it's very empowering.

Around - I'm not even sure how long it's been now, maybe 10 years? Or close to that? I realized I was slowly cracking up a little - starting to show some cracks in the paint, and I needed to go back and give it a try again. New realizations and new shifts within myself that made me look at my life very differently. I think I maybe went 12 times. I went from being a borderline depressed mess to feeling like a really, really strong person again.

Well, I'm here to say that I'm back in therapy again. There are lot of not fun things about being in therapy. (usually the things that make you feel like you NEED to go to therapy in the 1st place) But I am blogging about it because I am really putting in a plug for all the GOOD things that can come from it. Every week after I talk to my counselor I feel like "wow - that was really great, I really learned something about myself" and that helps me face the new week with new perspective and purpose.

I'm sure all my blog readers are perfectly well adjusted and wouldn't ever be in the position of needing to see a therapist, but I'm just saying...there's something really great about it, if you're in a state of mental confusion and things don't make a lot of sense, or if you're feeling down, or if you're feeling a little anxious - or out of control, or un-centered, or whatever your brand of not feeling whole might be. I'm just saying, I'm a big fan.