“Why would someone want to pay to talk to YOU?”
Aidan, my nine-year-old grandson was helping me put the charges from my therapy practice through my credit card machine.
He wasn’t being rude; he was trying to understand about my “job.”
“Is psychology a business? he asked.
“Why do people go to psychologists? Why would someone pay to … just talk?”
I tried to explain:
You know how sometimes you can get angry or just plain sad … if something doesn’t go right at school… or at home…
“Like when I get mad at my sister?”
Right. Sometimes… you tell me about it and you do seem to feel better afterwards.
I raised my eyebrows and he smiled, sheepishly.
Everyone has challenges, Aidan. Everyone. Even me.
The trick, sweet boy, is to remember that you don’t have to be sick to get better.
The more you talk about your troubles to someone who understands, the easier it can be to understand WHY you feel anxious, sad or angry, when you do.
You still get to be in charge of yourself… and to decide how you want to manage your feelings and/or take action.
Guess what, Aidan? It seems to be the smartest people who are the first to recognize when they can benefit from this kind of coaching.
“What do you say to those people?”
Mostly, I listen… I’m always flattered when my clients trust me with their secrets.
“All you have to do is listen? Really? You have an easy job, Grandma.”
NOW… I got defensive. Sometimes, I do help some people to solve problems, I said.
This week, KEVIN LOVE of the CLEVELAND CAVALIERS wrote an essay about his own mental health and psychological treatment. It went viral… for good reason. No surprise to me.
Bravo to Kevin for coming clean and providing encouragement to others who would benefit from some time with a mental health professional.
Never mind that sports enthusiasts may think his admission of an anxiety disorder was self-serving, given that he may have felt dissed lately for what looked like weakness.
Never mind that Saturday Night Live folks skewered him for making a big deal about his “little” anxiety attack.
LOOK WHAT KEVIN LOVE HAD TO SAY:
“On November 5th, right after halftime against the Hawks, I had a panic attack. I’d never had one before. I didn’t even know if they were real. But it was real — as real as a broken hand or a sprained ankle. Since that day, almost everything about the way I think about my mental health has changed.”
“Like most boys and men, I’ve never been comfortable sharing much about myself. I had learned to be strong, to not talk about my feelings and to get through whatever is was, on my own.
“But what I had always done wasn’t working this time.
“The Cavs helped me find a therapist, and i set up an appointment… i’m the last person who’d have thought i’d be seeing a therapist.
“I’m not saying, Everyone go see a therapist. The biggest lesson for me since November wasn’t about a therapist — it was about confronting the fact that I needed help.
“I try to remind myself: everyone is going through something that we can’t see.”
It’s part of being human.
THINK ABOUT THIS:
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE SICK AT ALL… TO GET BETTER.
Email Dr. Linda
{ 0 comments… add one now }