- Mental health professionals are sometimes referred to as “shrinks”. Actually I believe it is more like going to see an “expando”. A good counselor helps us open up and see more options in our life. We learn that we don’t have to cope with the life we have now in the same old ways we have always coped with life. We can update and improve our E.Q. (Emotional Quotient).
- Personal growth counseling is “education for living”. We take all kinds of classes in school, do on the job training for our work, and take drivers training to get a drivers license – but where do we learn to be a good parent to a tiny human being, or how to deal with anger & conflict in our relationships, or how to manage high octane anxiety, mind-numbing depression, or persistent grief when we go through stressful life transitions?
- The healthiest people get personal growth counseling. Often people begin counseling thinking they are the “craziest” one in their family – only to find out that the opposite is true.
- Being “strong” and being an “adult” does not mean going it alone and trying to be fiercely self-sufficient. Real strength is being able to be vulnerable with the people close to us, and being able to use resources in our life when we need them.
- Few people grew up in ideal families (forget perfect) but it is our responsibility to learn what we need to learn in life to be happier and healthier adults, parents, partners, and friends.
If you are lonely in your marriage, if you feel like you are failing your kids, if you realize you’ve been numbing your life with food, drugs, exercise, work, sex, or mindless tv – and it isn’t working to make your life better – maybe it is time to try another path. Be brave. Invest in yourself. Expand your horizons!
(Published in Natural Awakenings magazine November 2016)