Counseling

Counseling is a tool for everyone to use to improve upon their own life and purpose.

This is part of a series, sharing the self-authored book, “The Hard Way: Honest Conversations about mental health in our homes, churches and communities,” which is introduced in this free post as well as this one. The funds given by paid subscribers for this post and for the next several posts will be donated to NAMI.

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My approach to taking care of myself is just like any other task: a desire to accomplish something, but also a recognition that it’s impossible to do everything perfectly the first time.

Let me be upfront about this: everyone benefits from counseling. Yes, that’s right. Counseling is not just for those who have experienced a traumatic situation or are mentally ill. Counseling is a tool for everyone to use to improve upon their own life and purpose.

Talking to a professional benefits your mental health. In the same way we get a physical exam done each year to make sure our bodies our healthy, counseling provides the opportunity to check in on our minds. I shared about my very first counseling experience in an earlier post, but seven years passed before it became obvious that I needed to find someone to help me through a challenging situation.

Excuses can often create hurdles that challenge our progress forward.

I need a new counselor and I don’t want to find one.
I don’t have time, or energy to find a professional to talk to about something I need help navigating right now.
My previous counselor is no longer available, do I really have to start over?
That sounds exhausting.
I have to tell my whole story to someone new?
Why can’t I just journal?
Why can’t I just talk to my spouse or a friend?
Why can’t I just pray the anxiety away?

As an introvert it was a challenge to admit to myself that I needed someone else’s help to process what was going on in my mind. I stubbornly thought that I could figure it out for myself.

God certainly desires for us to talk to him, and he has equipped us with people and tools to take care of ourselves. But more often than not…