A blog about therapy;and how you should run, not walk, to begin your therapy journey.
Folks compare a lot of things to psychotherapy, like hikes in nature, talks with a good friend, meditation, and even confessions to a priest. All those things are great, and can be great tools for a good life. But they are not therapy.Therapy is a uniquely potent tool for crafting a rich and satisfying life.
Psychotherapy is no quick fix, and its value can’t be assessed on any particular session. In fact some of the “best” sessions can feel downright heart-breaking. But its goals are fundamental shifts in how we see/experience/think about ourselves, our relationships and existence itself.
This might be our one shot at life and living. Assuming it is I want to experience as much of the richness as it holds, with as much freedom of spirit as I can. For me, and for so many of my friends and folks I work with (yep, I am a therapist), therapy is a key tool to changing patterns that hinder our full engagement in living.
While I don’t think it is necessary to be in therapy all the time, a think a few long stretches of it in life are key. There are lots of external reasons that bring folks into therapy, like depression or anxiety, relationship troubles or endings, career considerations or parenting challenges, but the real work is the journey into our mind’s eye, our soul, our angst, our longings. That is the realm therapy can really help us with.
So grab a flashlight, for the really dark recesses of our psyche, that we have clouded over with misdirection and murkiness so we don’t have to look, and a thoughtful, containing, supportive, courageous guide (that’s the therapist), and let’s explore who we are and what makes us tick.
Smith is an analytically oriented psychotherapist with 25 years in practice. She is additionally the Founder/Director of Full Living: A Psychotherapy Practice, which specializes in matching clients with seasoned clinicians in the Greater Philadelphia Area.
If you are interested in therapy and live in Philadelphia or the Greater Philadelphia Area, please let Full Living: A Psychotherapy Practice match you with a skilled, experienced psychotherapist based on your needs and issues as well as your and own therapists’ personalities and styles. All of our therapists are available for telehealth conferencing by phone or video in response to our current need for social distancing.
Author Karen L. Smith MSS LCSW Karen is the founder and director of Full Living: A Psychotherapy Practice, which provides thoughtful matches for clients seeking therapists in the Philadelphia Area. She provides analytically oriented psychotherapy, and offers education for other therapists seeking to deepen and enriching their work with object relation concepts.