Ever feel like your life is a little out of control? Where you were born, your relationships, your chosen profession all pressing in on you to be definable? Predictable? Dependable?
And yet there is always that sneaking thought in the back of your mind, or a feeling nestled deep in your heart, “Is this all there is? I have followed the signposts and ended up here?”
Sometimes this unspoken despair manifests as a crisis of sorts. A marriage breakdown. Maybe low level worry, or a deep sadness that you want things to be different.
Sometimes people have no choice. Their life maybe thrown into turmoil at the loss of a spouse, a family member, a friend, a job. When a major life event hits it becomes difficult to avoid these thoughts and feelings.
“Prolonged grief” , “depression” and “anxiety” are the labels that are placed on people when they struggle to cope. Although we are each as individually complex as our thumbprints, the medicalised model has attempted to normalise and create a mean for unique human experiences that add further distress at an already distressing time for most people. Someone who is really struggling is given the additional burden of an opinion that there is something pathologically wrong with them. That their response is not typical and therefore not right. This serves to further isolate someone and often times someone struggling will suppress what they are feeling because the people around them are uncomfortable. The worry, or the sadness starts to shape the interactions around them. These distortions can precipitate a withdrawal and the sufferer is left feeling isolated and misunderstood. What follows maybe a chain reaction of a lifetime of unfelt emotions. Unexpressed feelings sending the person into a crisis where they are the issue. Their inability to enjoy life, to work, to communicate and at times even to sleep creates a living hell.
This is where the ‘talking cure’ is most valuable. When you come and see me I am not interested in what everyone else perceives is wrong with you.
I am here to support you. To assist you in working out what is going on for you. And that doesn’t mean ‘fix’ you. A lot of life’s difficulties aren’t fixable. They are what they are.
But stepping into your first session you are already telling me something very important. That you care about yourself. You may think that there is shame in admitting that you can’t cope. Rubbish. To commit to helping yourself, to surrender to a process that demands growth is heroic. It is powerful. It is saying “I matter”.
In todays fast paced world we run around keeping busy – making money, spending money, worrying about money. We are on a 24 hour news loop with countless distractions to employ and numb out from the discomfort we experience. Our fear of missing out – comparing and despairing leaving little room for reflection. Seems like we all know someone with a terminal disease (Or we avoid checking out that pain or lump because it just may be….).
Carl Jung wrote, “The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.”
Are you ready to start the journey?
Mental Health Mental Wealth 