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

I can do everything on my own. I don’t need to get married. I don’t want to depend on anyone for my sustenance.

I thought that people got married to fill the deep void inside. And it can never be filled by things or a person. Only I, myself, can do that.

That’s the kind of thoughts that I harbored in my early and mid-20s.

Then a mental illness took me on a roller-coaster ride in my late 20s and I did a rethink about my life. I realized I would miss certain beautiful experiences of life if I didn’t get married (sharing Life).

So, I hesitantly agreed to get married and find a partner who will understand me and not put too many restrictions on me.

And I can attest to the fact that getting married was the best decision of my life. Mainly because of the kind of human being I received as a gift from God as my life partner.

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.

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 is an attempt, an outcry in fact to find a like-minded person with whom I can open my heart out. 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 a therapist online about the complexities of life and human nature for six months now. And this time too, I feel grateful to existence that I made this decision.

Reasons why you should try therapy too

It’s not like something has to be broken first that the therapist will fix for you. Perfectly healthy and ‘normal’ (whatever its 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 fixes don’t work. It causes harm rather than good
• Time & Money tend to shrink and expand in relation to priority. So, rethink your reasons for not going for therapy due to time or money constraints.
• 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 childhood or unresolved and buried conflict with parents or partners that stops us.

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

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