- Something doesn’t have to be “wrong” for you to go to therapy.
- My therapist will tell me what to do. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I make it a point to never give advice to my clients. I may make suggestions with your permission, but I never give advice.
- Therapy doesn’t “fix” life’s problems. Therapy is a healthcare practice that can help you uncover unhelpful beliefs, explore past traumas and explore ways that allows you to show up for your life in an authentic way.
- Sometimes it does get worse before it gets better. You may not always leave the therapy session feeling happy and that’s completely normal! Therapy can bring up feelings that can be challenging and uncomfortable, and it’s not always easy to explore at first.
- Attending therapy consistently is more helpful than not. Consistency allows you to do deeper work and explore helpful solutions or ways to reframe unhelpful thoughts.
- The work you do outside of therapy is essential to seeing change. Therapy is an hour out of a 24-hour day, 7 days a week. One hour is simply not enough to see change, which is why it’s imperative to process and explore what you are working on in therapy outside of session. It’s like taking swimming lessons, but never practicing outside of class. You may learn to swim, but you’ll see result at a much slower pace.
- Therapy is an expense. It’s quite the opposite; it is an investment into your emotional and mental wellbeing. It can be costly without insurance, however there are sliding scale fees and employer’s assistance programs to help reduce costs. What is it costing you to not attend therapy? Peace? Self-love/growth, healthy relationships? Setting better boundaries? Reducing symptoms and developing new and healthy coping skills? Are these things that may improve the quality of life?
- Black people don’t need therapy. Therapy or seeking can be stigmatizing especially from a cultural perspective. I can tell you right now that some of my best growth has been achieved in therapy. A reflection question on one of my affirmation card deck is “do the beliefs I grew up with reflect my values today?”.
- Talking with your therapist is not the same as talking with a friend. The therapeutic relationship is focused on you and your needs where your therapist focuses clinical interventions to serve and support your needs.
- It can take several sessions to click or build rapport with your therapist. Pay attention to how you are feeling, but also know that it is a normal part of the therapy process to build rapport over time.