I Want to Try Therapy Because I Think I Don't Need Therapy

Fast forward the story to the present moment when I am in my mid-30s.

I have read, heard, and seen that therapy will complement the medication I have been taking since the age of 27 in managing (not treating) my mental illness, which I will disclose openly sometime in the future.

And I am the one who is vehemently encouraging my wife and my friends to go for therapy and not be ashamed of it. But for some reason, I was sure that I could do without therapy myself.

All this while I had been writing on the Internet about my mental illness and spiritual encounters and my philosophy of life as an attempt, an outcry in fact, to find a like-minded person with whom I can open my heart.

Someone who will listen, like really listen, to the story of my psyche and soul.

And I still think that I don’t need therapy. How strange, isn’t it?

But then six months earlier I decided that enough is enough I was going to find either a life coach or a therapist who can make sense of my inner turmoil and callings from the subconscious.

And here I am, talking to two of my soul buddies on this common spiritual journey. Talking to them is like therapy for me.

Reasons why you should try therapy too

It’s not like something has to be broken first that the therapist will fix in you. Perfectly healthy and ‘normal’ (whatever the definition is) people should try therapy too.

She is just like a life’s teacher.

She will help you become comfortable about being uncomfortable. She will help you accept the life’s unpleasantness and endure the inevitable adversities and suffering.

Family and Friends also have a big role to play. They can provide a listening ear but more often than not the ear is not trained nor objective.

Factors to keep in mind

• Therapy takes time and effort. A shift in our emotions and unhealthy beliefs is not easy.
• Quick fix don’t work. It causes harm rather than good
• Time & Money tend to shrink and expand in relation to priority. So, rethink your reasons about not going for therapy due to time or money constraint.
• Therapy won’t make you happy but it will surely increase the depth and authenticity of your happiness. Moreover, you will now start to embrace sadness with open arms.

Conclusion

One needs to do a little soul-searching to find what is really stopping one from taking therapy. Often the reasons we give are not the real reasons.

There might be some trauma from the childhood or unresolved and buried conflict with parents or partner that stop us.

I am very sure once we do a little bit of self-therapy we will whole-heartedly accept external therapy and not be ashamed of it.

After all, why be ashamed of talking to a life’s teacher, right?

What do you think about taking therapy? Or talking to your close friends and family?