Counseling is More Than Sick Care
Most of us want to get better at something. We want to be more educated, happier, better at our jobs, or to improve at a sport. We want to lose weight, to get promoted, or to accomplish an ambition. The tough part is that while we want to get better, we do not always put forth the effort to do so. It is hard to get started. The hardest part of making gains at a gym is not getting a membership or even the workout, it is physically going to the gym in the first place.
Progress can be difficult, even painful. For many people, daily routine is a rut that is difficult to break out of. We often lead lives that are so busy that it seems difficult or impossible to add extra studying, or time at the gym, or more effort with our significant other. We live the same days, the same weeks, the same months over and over. Routine can be comforting because we know what to expect – even if it is not always pleasant.
Counseling is an opportunity to review things in your life, prioritize, and reorganize what you are doing and what you are hoping for in your future. Like the gym, setting up that first appointment and heading into the therapist’s office for the first time is oftentimes the hardest part. Once there, a counselor can help you delve into your hangups and what is holding you back; to help you determine what is keeping you from moving in the direction you want to go. Counseling can help you discover a reasonable path forward with self-improvement, or with re-igniting a relationship, or finding a new paradigm on an existing concern.
Whether you know what you want, and need motivation and compassion to get there, or if you do not know what you want but know that it is more than what you currently have, counseling is an opportunity to move forward and to get better. While therapy does treat problems and maladies, it is more than just that. It is a place for empathy and being listened to, for inspiration and enthusiasm, and for unconditional positive regard, all of which work together to provide a sanctuary to start you on your journey towards fulfillment and attainment.
Written by Eric Gustavson, LPC, NCC, CFRC