A Year of Therapy

This January, I will have been going to therapy for a whole year. 

A year of therapy has taught me so much. It’s given me so much. It’s also humbled me. A lot. 

Therapy gave me a space to reflect. The crazy, chaotic, overwhelming movie that was my life was paused in therapy. Therapy gave me the tools to rewind the movie, slow some parts down, and examine every character and every plot-line that made up my life. 

Therapy gave me the chance to get angry, to be able to laugh, and to cry. I was able to experience the kind of anger that suddenly erupts from you because it’s been quietly waiting to come out. I learned how to laugh with myself, and not at myself. I was able to get some good cries in too. The ugly, chest-heaving kind of cry. I was able to grieve the characters that didn’t make into the next season of my life. I could get mad at the characters who had messed with my plot-line and give a standing ovation to those in my life who loved me. 

Therapy also gave me the chance to change the script and be confident in those changes. One of the biggest components in therapy is not just discussing the what in your life, but also the why. It was discovering and discussing the why that helped me. 

 I could go on and on about all the things I learned in therapy. 

 I know that therapy can be a tough topic. I also know that one article and a college student trying to make movie metaphors might not exactly give you the sudden urge to finally call up that therapist your friend recommended you talk too. What I do know is that everyone deserves a little peace. Sometimes it can all get a little loud. And therapy is what brought me that peace. 

This year, I hope you’re able to find what brings you peace, regardless of whether that’s through therapy or through another method. Next year, I hope you’re able to look back and recognize what brought you that peace, and that you can take pride in the fact that you were able to give that to yourself.