Experiencing Therapy

This post originally appeared as a Facebook post on Rob's page. It has been republished with permission.

I have been visiting this house on the regular since April. Behind those doors are two or three different psychologist who conduct their daily operations. After having three friends of mine tell me about their positive experiences with therapy, I decided to give it a try myself. After the first session, I was not sure if I wanted to continue going. Not because I thought that it was fake or phony or too expensive, but because I was scared. I was afraid of being vulnerable, working through tough times in my past, and showing my emotions.

Over the past few years I have developed an internal locus of control, where I believe that I have the ability constantly improve myself. I am pretty realistic, and I know my strengths and weaknesses. One specific dimension of my well-being that needed work was my mental health. I recognized that my lifestyle was becoming very costly, and unhealthy. I recognized that patterns in my family life (that I did not want), were slowly creeping up on me. Lastly, I realized that my ability show emotions and just 'let it out' needed to be better. To truly improve myself, working on my own baggage was going to have to happen. Although it was scary, I worked up the courage to take the next step and continue attending therapy.

Throughout the next five months, I learned a lot about myself. I had to articulate thoughts that I had kept tucked away for many years. Some of these thoughts were things that I have known for a while, and some were brand new realizations about myself and my life. I had to be open to showing emotions, which was really hard for me to do. I had developed an inability to express anger and sadness because of certain traumatic childhood experiences. These sessions were filled with tears, rage, and many teachable moments. The lessons that I have learned through this experience will stay with me forever, and will continue to help me be the best version of myself.

I am not sharing this post because I want praise for going to therapy. The message that I want to send is that people should not be afraid to get help or talk about their feelings. Therapy is not just for people with mental health problems. Everyone has their own traumas in life, and unfortunately not everyone knows how to process their emotions and heal in a positive way. I hope that after reading this, some of you will feel inspired to maybe take that first step into improving your mental health.

After attending therapy I feel like I have the tools and mindfulness to be able to handle any of lifes obstacles. I feel like I am much better control of my future and how to handle my emotions, and I have my friends who inspired me(BH, JS, & NB) and the people in this house to thank for it.

"I have been very surprised and happy with the amount of positive support that I received after one Facebook post. I have received many texts and messages from friends, family, and people who I have not spoken to in years. There is so much support out there, and more people need to know it!" -Rob

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