Ah, therapy. Good old fashioned, sit down, whine about your problems, get advice therapy. I hate it. I hate therapy with a passion. I just started going to a new therapist yesterday. They're always good, nice, usually very helpful - but the fact remains that therapy is a pain in the ass. It costs money and you have to do a lot of "work" on yourself and your life.
I started thinking about the idea of therapy, how it's this totally ancient practice pretty much. Only in the olden days these "therapists" were called "Elders" "wise people" or "...wizards." or something. It's interesting to think that one can just go into a place, pay money (or pelts or fine teas or something) and talk about their problems to a complete stranger. And this is supposed to make your life better.
I understand therapy's merits. I think it works. Especially when the therapists lets you solve your own problems, reach your own conclusions. My husband's impression of therapy is this: "I don't really know why I'm here. I mean it's not like I really have issues. I'm just doing this because I guess I should. Anyway what can I tell you about myself. Um..MY MOTHER WAS COLD! GASP!" That's sort of the way it works. You sit down, hell bent on not making it work and then as you robotically list all the things wrong with you some sort of clarity seeps in and you go "oh...OH!" And then the therapist nods at you, like some sort of Yoda who approves of your new found clarity.
I am far from "normal." I won't bore you with the details of my therapy (that's what therapy is for - to pay someone else to be bored with your problems). But I will say that it's probably good for "normal" people as well. I mean let's face it - we all have issues. And if you're like me, you have a hard time talking about them with your friends. Personally I tend to give most of my friends and family the "edited for tv" version of my brain, usually out of respect for the fact that they probably don't really wanna hear it and also that I don't wanna talk about it. Period. It's so easy to do when you're paying a stranger to listen to you. Because you don't care if they're bored or you sound whiney. You're paying them, dammit.
What do you, the viewers at home think of psychotherapy? Any stories you'd like to share? Any secrets you'd like to spill? If so, I charge by the hour.
