Tuesday, June 18, 2019

A Comfy Chair, A Friendly Ear


Therapy. I've heard that a person is pretty darn lucky to find a good therapist/counselor, that half of them aren't particularly good. And then you have to find one that you trust, one who clicks with you and seems to get what is going on with you. Making it more likely that you'll get the help that you need. I feel awfully fortunate that I found a wonderful, competent, and somewhat demanding counselor at two different, very difficult times in my life. The first time was when I was nineteen. I had dropped out of college, gained some weight, and was miserable. More recently was nearly fifteen years ago when my husband and I went through marriage counseling. We had sessions mostly together but a few times each of us went alone. I can honestly say that both times the therapy was life-saving as well as life-affirming. I love this illustration*, it so accurately depicts how counseling works when it is successful. It also reminds me of my mom, who would say it was time for bed and that sleep knits up that raveled sleeve of care. I didn't know she was quoting Shakespeare's MacBeth and have always wondered if she knew at the time. It was years before I realized it, she had so many weird and quirky sayings she casually dropped into conversations. My tangled mess of yarn is mostly neatly wound up and in its basket these days. Some of the credit for that goes all the way back to some lessons learned that first time around in counseling. Sometimes all it takes is a good night's sleep. All I know is, I'm still here, and counseling is partly responsible for that fact.

*I was not able to find out who the artist is that created the illustration. If it's you, please comment!

No comments: