Deciding to Begin Therapy 

By Marcia Blau, LCSW

The decision to begin psychotherapy is rarely an easy one.  It is generally born out of discontent from somewhere in your life; an internal pain that you have been trying to silence, maybe for many years, as it grew louder.

So, our journey together begins with my honoring this moment with you.  If you are reading this, it is because you have admitted to yourself that something needs your attention, and it is needed now.  That inner acknowledgement is both an act of courage, and of self-care.  And from that place of awareness, you can begin to find relief.

If you have been through psychotherapy before, you know that it is a gradual process of getting to understand yourself, as you learn to create the life you want.  Moving through this process may lead you into territory you never dared to enter,  You may need to release trauma that has been interfering with you for decades.  Or you may be tackling some new situation you find surprisingly upsetting.  With each session, you will hopefully attain some insight that you can apply to your life.  Over time, that may enable you to gain self-trust and become more comfortable in everything you do.  It may also help you to expand in ways you could not have previously envisioned.

Working holistically allows us to begin this process wherever you are ready to start.  There is a connection between the mind, body, and soul.  A clearer understanding of any part of you will help you have a better sense of the entirety of your being.  In other words, whatever issue is plaguing you now, is probably also lurking in other areas of your life.  Attending to it, where it is most tangible for you, will lead toward healing in those other areas as well.

When you are looking for a psychotherapist, I suggest you find someone with whom you could share your darkest secret.  You may not be ready to reveal any secrets initially.  But finding someone with whom you are that comfortable will help enormously when you are needing to speak your deepest truth.

It is also essential that as you sit in the first session, you get a sense of being heard and understood.  If the therapist you are considering offers a free initial consultation, I suggest taking it.  There is nothing that will tell you more about this person than your own feelings as the two of you actually speak.

If you are someone who is new to psychotherapy, I would like to debunk some common myths.  The first is that a therapist will try to change you.  A good practitioner will never try to alter who you are.  Psychotherapy is more about helping you see yourself and how you are moving through life.  This process is meant to enable you to make decisions about how you want to proceed.

The second myth is that you will have to look at and deal with parts of your life that feel too intimidating.  Once again, the pace of this work is determined by you.  Is is always your decision as to how deep you are willing to go, and the specifics of what you want to explore.  You can choose to only view that which you are ready to see.

The third myth is that you have to be in therapy for many years.  Essentially, you are the person who decides when you begin and when you leave therapy.  Although it may be beneficial to designate the end date with your psychotherapist, ultimately this decision belongs to you.

Beyond that, try to see today as the day you decided to invest in yourself.  You are being a good friend to yourself.  And that is the first step in beginning psychotherapy.  One thing I can promise you is that if you let yourself be in this process and learn to access yourself, it has the potential of bringing much more joy and satisfaction into your life.  Here’s wishing you an enriching psychotherapeutic journey.

© Marcia Blau