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Talking to someone? What’s the point?

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If you are like a lot of people and have no experience with counseling or therapy, you probably wonder what good could it do to go “talk to someone”. How could just talking to someone help? (After all, you have friends for that, right?)

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Often when faced with difficult situations, our natural instinct is to try and avoid, suppress or keep a lid/ maintain a hold on the “negative” emotions (fear, sadness, anger, shame…) that come up. This is a bit like being in a swimming pool with an inflatable ball while trying to keep the ball under water at all times. Doing this requires us to focus mostly on that task, consumes a lot of our energy and leaves us feeling constantly worried that in a moment of weakness we might let go of the ball and that it will “blow up in our face”.  As long as we are focused on keeping the ball under water, we cannot enjoy our time in the pool or pursue other more meaningful and truly satisfying goals.

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In situations like these, a counselor or therapist can provide a safe place for you to express your feelings without fear of judgement so you can free up your energy and move forward to regain a sense of satisfaction and purpose.