You don't have to be in a crisis to benefit from therapy

Taking a proactive stance toward therapy is a healthier and more effective option than holding out, riding out the storm, until life seems unmanageable. We are able to think more clearly, make better informed decisions, and feel more empowered when we take the initiative. When we anticipate our need for support, and establish a connection with our therapist before our nervous systems are engulfed in flames, we can identify issues more quickly, and make solid progress toward a brighter tomorrow.

For individuals who hope to be the most optimal version of themselves, therapy is as important as exercise, nutrition, sleep hygiene, and healthy relationships. Therapy provides education about our emotions, behaviors, and underlying needs that drive them. From a societal perspective, we value pediatric wellness visits for our children, dental appointments to head off issues before they arise, education to establish academic foundations, and routine lab work to address underlying concerns. Why then, would therapy be a reactive method to emotional and mental health?

Therapy intervention should be easily accessible, routine, and established as a component of a healthy lifestyle. If more people utilized therapy intentionally and frequently for short term supports, undesired behaviors would be more manageable, autoimmune disease would be less prevalent, substance abuse and child abuse would decrease and there would be less interpersonal conflict in family systems.

So what can we do Today, for a better Tomorrow? Talk openly about mental health issues to decrease stigma, and normalize support seeking. Validate one another's emotional responses to difficult seasons instead of minimalizing or denying stress, pressure, or pain. Create environments that offer emotional safety, respect boundaries, and encourage open expression of thoughts and feelings. Finally, seek therapeutic support sooner, rather than later to decrease ideas of shame, stigma, and overwhelm.

Until next time- Melissa