A few things I think you need to know about therapy
Deciding to seek out professional help will hopefully be a choice you look back on with positive connotations. I want to help make your experience a memorable one, one that was worth it. To make that a reality there are a few things worth knowing and they are worth knowing before you are looking at the bottom of the barrel. Most people hesitate to ask for help and when they do, they are hanging on by a thread. Because we wait until life is unbearable, we don’t have the energy or the mental resources to think about finding a good practitioner. A majority of those who seek help have difficulties navigating relationship dynamics. They struggle to handle disagreements, authority figures turns them into a yes-person, and the idea of embodying a sense of worth and assertiveness is something they envy in others but don’t know how to do themselves. The reason you need therapy is why you risk being in a therapeutic relationship that doesn’t serve you.
If you do a quick Google search on “things you need to know about therapy”, this is what you will find: The right fit matters, it’s all about collaboration, therapy is a process, honesty is key, consider if you are looking for a specific approach or specialty, look for negative reviews online and/or ask friends for recommendations, listen to your gut feeling during the first consult, consider price range and availability… Some articles tells you “All emotions are ok” and “the goal is not to fix you”, which is true in a good therapeutic relationship, but not every therapist will put it to practice.
The Key, The Resource, and Hidden Structures are a collection of brief overviews intended to help you choose the right practitioner. It is the guidance I would have benefited from when I started my first therapeutic relationship.
THE KEY
Discomfort as a key component of the therapeutic process. Do you want to be an individual who truly chose your dreams, who makes the daring choices others don’t have the strength to make? Instead of avoiding discomfort, make it a familiar landscape.
THE RESOURCE
Your practitioner can and should be a resource. Make sure you work with someone who genuinely has your best interest at heart and is knowledgeable in their field. Consider their approach/method, do they walk the talk, do you feel understood?we
HIDDENS STRUCTURES
A professional practitioner is able to see and explain the bigger picture. They are aware of concepts like transference and counter transference and will create a safe space to talk about it when it shows up.
Gunhild Archer, counselor 