Another secret about counseling: people come to counseling for all sorts of reasons. You might be surprised if you found out all the myriads of reasons people pursue therapy. Unfortunately, one of the greatest hangups people tend to get stuck with is the thought that their difficulty is “not that bad,” or “not serious enough,” to pursue counseling. This is a thought that might be spawned by how they were raised, the modeling of the adults in their younger years, a cultural norm, struggles with self-worth or something completely different. The common experience for people after this precipitating thought is, “I don’t really need therapy. I’ll get through this on my own.” The old saying, “Wisdom comes in the counsel or many,” seems to be valuable in this moment. While working on self-development, reading self-help books, watching you tube and TikTok is important, helpful and may provide some momentum or temporary relief; It is not quite the same as receiving individual counseling services.
What happens when we get so clouded by our own problems that the undesired climate of our mental and emotional lives seems “normal?” Typically, we fall deeper into our person struggle and lose sight of where we really want to be. When anxiety, depression, anger, fear, addiction or never-ending grief begins to be a mainstay in our day-to-day life; this may be a great time to pursue counseling. When you have, what may feel like a small or trivial issue that has been nagging for a while; this may be a great time to pursue counseling. If you’ve been to counseling before in years past, resolved your issue, but it is arising again in a new or different area your life; it’s okay. This may be a great time to pursue counseling.
Remember, some of the strongest people are those who seek support.
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