Posts tagged counseling

The challenge: ask someone at church if I can hang out with them at some point.

(Yes, really, this was my homework.  It was ALL of my homework.  It took me from April 29th to today, to get myself up to actually doing it.  This is the first time I’ve asked anyone to hang out, other than my sisters, in something like eight years.)

Now for the list of specific reasons therapy is so awesome!

• My therapist doesn’t care about stuff - she has no horse in my race.  So it’s totally honest and about truth and stuff, rather than some creepy hidden agenda.
• My therapist won’t freak out about the weird things I’ve managed to think of this time, because she has totally heard it all before (even if only in school.)
• My therapist sees at least one person who’s worse off than me - the odds are on my side on this one.
• Related: my therapist has heard stuff I’ve never dreamed of, and some of that might actually help me.  Education and expertise, for the win!
• My therapist won’t blab about this stuff to my mother, my boss, my coworkers, or that random kid she just ran into in the cafeteria - unlike some people I know.
• My therapist is actually going to be there when we’ve decided to meet.  No flaking out because a hot guy asked her to get coffee, no hiding because my problems are just too much to take.
• My therapist wants me to be happy and fulfilled and productive and stuff.  Who doesn’t want someone around like that?
• According to various surveys, my therapist probably has something wacky wrong with her, too, and that’s OK.  Having something wacky wrong with you is acceptable in that office!
• My therapist is under no illusions about why I’m in her office talking with her.  There are no games to be played, as far as she’s concerned.  It’s refreshingly straightforward like that.
• My therapist wants me to fix myself, and isn’t going to get all creepy demanding or freak out when I fail to live up to some bizarre expectation of how I’m supposed to behave.  It’s like the exact opposite of one of those scary dating situations.
• My therapist costs a lot less than total dysfunction, so.

So, it’s a little tricky explaining therapy to someone who’s never been, or doesn’t understand it already.  There’s like this magical curtain between those of us who’ve benefited from it and the rest of the universe.  I’ll try to give the rest of y’all a peek behind it.  Some of this might be triggering.

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