Therapy is not for crazy people.  Therapy is to stop you from going crazy.  It is for anyone who is struggling with a difficult or painful life issue that is overwhleming them.  It is certainly for people experiencing significant depression or anxiety issues, alcohol or drug abuse problems, anger management problems, trauma issues, school or work performance problems, chronic relationship conflicts, or grief/loss issues.  These are common human experiences that can overwhelm people.  However, therapy is also for anyone who would like to build a positive relationship with themselves, who desires to actualize their potential in any or all areas of life, e.g. therapy is for folks who want to become their best selves. 

We are all imperfect perfect people, raised in an imperfect world.  Because of this fact, we develop negative mental, behavioral, and/or emotional habits which block us from being the people we are truly meant to be.  Psychotherapy can help people dissolve those blocks and achieve the health, life satisfaction and feeling of productivity and purpose we all deserve.    Therapy is a collaborative process where the therapist guides the client to face the psychological wounds or stuck pIaces and then assists them to utilize their strengths and healthy coping skills to heal or transform these blocks.  The therapist doesn’t fix the client, but guides and mentors the client to develop or strengthen skills they can use for the rest of their lives.  It is teamwork.  It is collaboration.  It is healing through relationship.

As humans, we are complex creatures who require health of mind (our thinking/feeling self), body (our physical organic self) and spirit (soul/higher self) to truly thrive.  If we do not understand each of these parts of the self and/or do not know how to care for our mental, physical or spiritual self, then we expereince ‘dis – ease’.   Stress and negative thinking can lead to anxiety, but it can also cause insomnia, ulcers, headaches and a whole host of other physical problems.  Abusing alcohol can lead to depression and a list of physical problems, but can also lead a person to feel spiritually bankrupt—“I don’t know who I am any more”.   The therapist’s job is to teach the client how to take care of all three aspects of self so that they can truly experience total well-being and personal satisfaction.  Therefore, therapy is also for anyone who is struggling with health of body (chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines), mind (chronic worrier, chronic indecisiveness, self-critical, perfectionistic) or spirit (loss of faith, feel out of touch with your core values, loss of self-worth).  Therapy is a process of self-discovery, skill building, habit transformation and personal empowerment.

Well if therapy is so wonderful, why do most people avoid it like the plague?  One reason is the sterotype that therapy is for crazy people. You don’t go to therapy unless you are a real mess. Some marketing wise therapists have renamed themselves “life coaches”, to lessen the stigma, but still few people take advantage this empowering process.  Certainly some folks lack the resources (insurance, cash flow) to take advantage of this service.  But I think the biggest reasons are cultural.  We are a society that looks for quick fixes and therapy takes a lot of time and effort.  We are a society that likes to buy instant happiness (the next coolest electornic toy) and therapy is a process of self-discovery that in time can lead to happiness.  We are a culture that keeps ourselves so busy and so connected to electronic devices we are forgetting about the healing component of face to face open, honest communication.  Finally, we are an independent minded people who often believe that we must figure out all our problems on our own, or else consider ourselves weak.   It is funny, that we are ususally willing to assist others who ask us for help, yet is so difficult to ask for help for ourselves.   Instead, we will just look up our problem on the internet, find too much information (some of it conflicting), get overwhelmed and just avoid the whole mess.           

As a psychologist I am well aware that I am biased in favor of therapy for anyone seeking personal growth?  I would love to hear from others why people don’t utilize therapy very often.

Diane C. Garrison, Ph.D.

Lake Country Counseling Services