A Quest For Therapy

☝Therapy 

Finding a therapist that is good and fits your needs can be challenging. In the first place, therapy costs money. However, getting a good therapist on an extremely tight budget can be done without too much trouble. For those of us who are financially challenged, doing your research, asking questions of health care providers, and making sure you are aware of the different organizations that will lend a helping hand, you can make sure you get what you need. My own excellent therapist works for such an organization that reaches out to those in need. I grant you, it can be a daunting task to start to uncover answers. Yet, with help from friends, family, and trusted people in your life it can be a rewarding experience. Understand giving up should not be an option. If you need help, you deserve to get it as much as that guy with a roll of fifties in his pocket. I have the ill luck to suffer from Major Depressive Disorder-Recurrent-Severe. What that means is that I spend a lot of time terribly depressed. When I first realized that I couldn't handle this depression by myself and that I needed a professional, I knew it was a lost cause. A friend recognized that I was on the verge of giving up and talked me into trying. She moved out of town and across the country shortly thereafter, but she had given me what I needed. She was able to support me with assurances I wasn't crazy or somehow defective, and that whoever I contacted during this search wouldn't think so either.

I persevered and continued my search. It didn't occur to me that finding a therapist wasn't the end of things. I went into therapy with the idea that the therapist would figure out what was wrong with me, and I would be on my merry way. Not so much. First of all, I was really uncomfortable with my first therapist. It was a matter of very different personalities, and eventually, I was back on the search. I didn't quit for some reason that I don't really understand, and I am so glad. I was lucky. The second go-around with a therapist turned out okay. I pushed my patience level hard but got some very good help. I also learned that the work done in therapy is my job. The therapist was able to work around my misguided ideas and lead me to answers I discovered myself. It was a revelation to me that I knew myself well enough to make real progress. I was guided to understand that I was halfway intelligent, and not stupid as I had always been told I was. It was the beginning of self-acceptance for me. I still haven't accepted myself and all my problems, but then I'm working on it

There are some key things to remember when you go into therapy. You cannot always find the perfect fit, but continuing anyway can introduce you to your own strength, if it is a really uncomfortable pairing, keep looking.  As I said before, quitting is not an option. With hard work and difficult conversations, come delightful insights into yourself and those you love. I discovered through all of this that I actually enjoyed talking with my life guides. It is a way to invite smiles and laughter into my world. Through talk therapy, I have learned courage. That courage informs me that we can learn to stop hiding who we are. Learning about ourselves gives people the ability to learn more about others. Believe it or not, we are not the only ones feeling this way. When you understand those around you better, things become a little easier. Whether you are going through something rough, or you have always felt that something was missing from your life, therapy helps. It is, without a doubt, the best thing that has come into my life.