Tuesday Truth: Why I Heart Therapy

I know that I’ve mentioned this topic on the blog before, but today I want to delve a bit deeper into why I adore therapy and think everyone should have a therapist (yes, I said EVERYONE—including you). 

Sadly, there’s a really weird stigma around going to therapy (everywhere except in NYC and LA, maybe…). People who go to therapy don’t talk about it, and people who don’t go to therapy think that only people who are really struggling go to therapy—but this is far from the truth.

I returned to therapy in January of this year. I hadn’t been regularly since high school, but was at a point where I just needed someone to talk to. I walked in, started sobbing within the first few minutes, poured out everything that I had been holding inside for the past few months (years?), and haven’t looked back since.

At first, my weekly visits were necessary because I was struggling emotionally (I had a LOT going on family-wise at the end of last year). Now, my weekly visits are my time for reflection, for mental and emotional maintenance, a very important part of my self-care routine. In fact, every single change that I’ve made in my life since January (including the biggest change of all, giving up my Studio Director role at Tranquil Space) has been made because of my time in therapy.

Honestly, just penciling in 55 minutes every week to talk about and think about my state of being has made all the difference. Before, I just kept on charging ahead, doing what I’ve always done, because I didn’t have the time to stop and think about doing anything differently. Once I carved out the time to stop for a second and started doing a little self-study, I realized that I wanted to make changes that I’d been to busy to notice before.  It’s been amazing.

Some weeks I go to therapy and just discuss normal life situations. Some weeks I go and cry about things that I didn’t even know were bothering me before I sat down. Sometimes I go and feel like I have nothing to talk about because everything is great, but no matter what, I always feel 1000 times lighter when my time is up. I keep kicking myself for not going back many years sooner--what was I thinking?

My Dad is a therapist. My late stepmother was a therapist. My mom thinks she’s a therapist because she’s been going to therapy for so long, and I have a handful of friends who are therapists or counselors. I know and love many therapists, and I credit my high school therapist for turning my life around and truly saving me from myself. So why haven’t I been in therapy all along?

If you’re not already in therapy, I highly recommend that you seek out a therapist ASAP. Not because you have emotional issues or can’t handle life yourself, but because we could all use at least an hour each week to do some big picture thinking about our lives.

Thank you to all of the therapists in my life for all of the time you spend listening to people like me talk about ourselves for at least an hour every week. You have enriched my life in more ways than you’ll ever know, and I think that you’re definitely real Doctors ;)