When I decided to start going to therapy, I also decided to be as open and candid about my experience. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking care of your mental health. There’s also nothing wrong with talking about taking care of your mental health either.
There are a ton of reasons why I decided to start going to therapy. The biggest one is that I’m an anxious person. I overthink things. I get nervous doing fairly simple things like talking on the phone. And I wanted to work on it. Therapy doesn’t mean there’s anything seriously wrong with you. Therapy means you want to work on yourself. It’s like going to the gym, but for your mind.
So yesterday I went to my first session. I didn’t do too much research into choosing a therapist because everyone I’ve talked to says you may jump around from therapist to therapist before landing with one you feel comfortable with. So I called a place and they suggested the lady I met with yesterday.
Luckily for me we really hit it off and after a few nervous minutes not sure what to talk about, I relaxed and felt really comfortable talking to her. The first session was all about getting to know me. My history, my relationship with my family, my work life, and anything really that seems to cause me anxiety.
And it was easy. It was so easy to just talk to a stranger about things I have a hard time talking to people I’m close with. I thought for sure I’d be cagey like I tend to be when things are about me, but her questions kept me talking. She also gave me feedback which I definitely needed. I worried it would just be me babbling on to someone jotting notes the whole time, but she gave feedback, understanding, and related to things I talked about.
After the fastest hour of my life I left feeling flush, but elated. The adrenaline was definitely there and wore of quickly leaving me a bit tired. But overall I felt surprisingly better. Nothing really had changed. She didn’t give me any real advice or pointers, but just ranting on for 60 minutes and then leaving it all in the room helped.
My first session has me excited for the next one. I’m eager to learn about my type of anxiety and how to work to handle difficult situations better. I’m eager to bitch about my problems. I’m eager to leave things behind and feel lighter.
So if you’re thinking about therapy, do it. Take it from someone who sat in her car to give herself a pep talk before going in, it’s worth it. It’s worth overcoming the stigma and the anxiety about going to actively work to improve your life.
