Living in peace and harmony with ourselves is all we strive for as humans. In the end, our goal is to maximize our happiness and develop an intrinsic understanding of who we are. The question is, how will we ever start doing that without putting in the active effort? The simplest answer is, we won’t. So, I am glad you are reading this. It means you are one step closer to the truth. Welcome, and enjoy. Here are some of the most basic reasons for why you should never be embarrassed to consult a psychotherapist.
1. There’s a stigma attached to it
First and foremost, let me state the obvious: there’s a stigma attached to seeing a therapist. If you’re not determined enough to get past that, chances are you will not truly benefit from therapy. Unfortunately, Western society has taught us to hate or judge what we don’t understand. We should not accept everything that we are told, but we should definitely open our hearts to understanding those around us; that includes their actions and behaviors. So, no, therapy is not for “crazy people” or for those who “are not strong enough,” but quite the opposite – it’s for those who are brave enough to ask the real question, “Who am I and what am I doing here?”
2. It’s not always about your parents
People will make fun of therapy in many ways, but one which always stuck out to me was this myth that counseling will always lead to discussing your childhood years, one way or another. As often as this occurs, it’s not a rule. Different therapists will use various techniques; most therapists will try to find out the root of your problems before proceeding into helping you discover yourself. So yes, this focus on your childhood years could be necessary, depending on your situation. Why? Because we humans work like computers. I did not say we are computers – we just work like one.
A computer is programmed to accept inputs, process information, and display outputs on the screen, just as humans are programmed to accept education during their childhood years without questioning its quality, transform that information into a set core of beliefs, and then display behavior on this screen called life. For our lives to change, we must turn back to that programming time of our lives and see what went wrong. Our childhood can, many times, affect the way we think, feel, and act later in life. However, there are other techniques available if you would rather start slower, so don’t be held back by this concern. Experience and see for yourself.
3. Beliefs are important
One of the most important things to consider is your beliefs. Whether we know it or not, emotions govern our lives. You might be wondering in which way. Here is a brief explanation. Beliefs create thoughts, thoughts create emotions, emotions build up your personality, and your personality creates your reality. Thus, if we don’t change our beliefs, our reality will not be what we want. This, in turn, can make us suffer and turn us into sad or depressed individuals. Here comes another issue – many people look to medication to get out of this state of suffering. However, this can be a mistake for the following reasons:
- Medicating yourself may only cover up the root causes of your problems.
- You may therefore feel less determined to explore yourself because of your thinking pattern.
- Your mind may trick you into believing that your problems are solved if you cover them up with “happy meds.” Instead, these negative feelings can build up inside of you and, if the meds are not present anymore, you might experience severe depression.
- That’s why therapy helps – it goes to the roots of your problems and helps you cut them out instead of covering up and forgetting about it by repressing your emotions.
4. Becoming mindful day by day
Here is an eternal truth: you cannot change the past. You can only change the present, or accept it, and modify the future. There is no way you can change the past. You must accept it in order to be free from the suffering it causes. The bottom line is not to repeat it, especially if the outcomes were not desirable. Thus, you must learn to become mindful. Mindfulness consists of accepting the present situation, stop judging yourself or others, trust in this self-discovery process, accept how things are, and give up on formerly programmed ideals.
Here are some ways in which you can become more mindful:
- Start practicing meditation.
- Engage in yoga sessions, online or offline.
- Keep a journal to write down your daily feelings and activities. Write down whatever you feel necessary and engage with that text later on. You could use this material to analyze yourself in more depth.
- Focus on your breathing Notice how your body feels when you do that. Practicing meditation will help with this part.
- Notice how you feel during every activity that you are pursuing. Start observing yourself instead of just identifying with your emotions.
5. Therapy takes strength
It takes courage to start therapy. Looking inside yourself is not an easy job, let alone simple. There are many steps you must go through before reaching a real, wise understanding of your true self. However, this is not impossible, but it requires continuous effort and, most importantly, patience. When you engage in this activity, you realize how much you’ve missed it before, when you didn’t even know it existed. Therapy helps you become mindful, attentive, focused, and wise. It’s the first step towards a better life – I can promise you.
6. You won’t get life advice from your therapist
Another myth that’s been going around is the idea that your therapist will tell you what to do in life. This is such an enormous lie. A good therapist will not meddle in your life but will only guide you towards a better understanding of your path. The only requirements are being open and accepting while holding healthy skepticism. Here is my message, in a nutshell: therapists will not tell you what to do but will help you pave the way to understanding what you have to do, then support you to act on it.
7. Suffering can only be relieved through hard work
If you suffer and realize it, you are the perfect candidate for seeing a counselor. If you won’t take this step towards loving yourself, who will? How will you be able to change anything within yourself? How will you rise, stand up for yourself, and begin to heal? How will you succeed if you don’t start the healing process? Your past will always keep you back unless you accept it.
Conclusion
I hope the above advice helps. Be open, be true to yourself, communicate with yourself, and never forget to love and be open to receiving love. Good luck on your path, friend.
If you or someone you know experiences mental health issues, it is important to seek help from a qualified professional. Our Resource Specialist can help you find expert mental health resources to recover in your community. Contact us now for more information on this free service to our users.
About the Author: Tobias Foster is a journalist and assignment writing help specialist with more than five years’ work experience at a professional research paper writing service. Philosophy, marketing, business, and resume services are his passions, and he has a wealth of knowledge in that field. He is a master of his craft, providing numerous students college paper help and dissertation help.
Photo by Vlad Bagacian on Unsplash
The opinions and views expressed in this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of www.rtor.org or its sponsor, Laurel House, Inc. The author and www.rtor.org have no affiliations with any products or services mentioned in this article or linked to herein.
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I’m glad you said going to therapy takes courage and how it takes hard work to grow. In my opinion, we sometimes think going to therapy will be poorly seen by others, and we don’t want to get made fun of. Plus, we think it might be too expensive, but we should think of it as an investment in our well being. I think you did a great job explaining why it’s important to go to therapy and why you shouldn’t worry about what others might say.
I’ve been self-diagnosed with social anxiety for almost two years now and it’s affecting my work performance a lot but I have hesitations regarding consulting a professional. I appreciate that you explained how it takes a lot of courage to start therapy and although it requires a lot of continuous effort and patience, it is not impossible. When I make up my mind about giving it a shot, I’ll try to contact a trustworthy and reliable mental health counselor who might be able to help me.