By Jennifer Drum, Resident in Counseling
Therapy is an involved process. The first step being, entering into a therapeutic relationship where you feel seen and heard, as well as open to looking at yourself and life in a deeper way. Some personal challenges are going to take longer to sift through.
Some issues, after being addressed, may yield quicker positive results and feelings. I think it is important to embrace the “grey” in the healing journey. Integrating new insights into our daily lives in our thoughts, feelings and behaviors takes time. Being raised in an athletic background fueled by a “no pain, no gain” philosophy, I find myself asking clients to practice the exact opposite. And so, I encourage you to please be kind, patient and loving with yourself as you courageously go into your heart in the therapy process.
If this feels hard for you to do, that is something to be curious about and worth exploring. Sometimes, we just need to trust the process; the forward movement, the detours, the stuck times, knowing that there is meaning and value in all of it.