Connection, Growth and Self Awareness- A Practical Explanation of Therapy

One of the reasons that so many of us do not enter into therapy, or put off entering into therapy has to do with expectations. Often we know that something is bothering us or we are going through an emotionally painful time, but we have no context for what the process of therapy is. Generally any treatment around mental health issues comes with a sense of mystery and uncertainty. That of course is just a product of our culture and a vast misunderstanding of what it means to take care of our minds as we would other parts of our body. It is not uncommon, in my practice, to hear clients explain that they are anxious about starting because they feel a need to “perform” or feel a pressure to know exactly what to do or say. My answer to this is that the only expectation is to show up as yourself and as you are, that day and during that specific hour. If you are excited, anxious, apprehensive, apathetic or anything else at all, it is perfectly acceptable. I post this video here because I feel it a great demonstration of what it means to be in therapy and a small glimpse of what you can expect your therapy to lead to over time. Everyone has a wonderfully unique beginning, middle and end to the therapeutic process and this clip is just one person‘s experience.