<h4>Therapy...the Unknown Neccessity</h4>

The last few months have opened my eyes to a few concepts that were always out of reach in my mind.  The concept that I will focus on today is the idea of therapy.

Many give therapy a negative stipulation due to the assumed link to mental disorders and traumatizing events.  Therapy, however, does not necessarily mean sitting on a couch and informing someone about your life.  Although there is a time and a place for that, there are many other forms of therapy that are just as helpful if not more so.

For those that do not know, I am bipolar.  Being diagnosed as such I have gone through many hour long sessions where I talk to a therapist.  What I discovered, however, is that my therapist never told me what was wring with the way that I acted.  She never told me what to do or how to act or how to fix a situation.  

My hour with her would usually follow the same routine each and every single week.  I would walk in and just start talking about what had happened during the week.  I would just tell her how I felt and how I reacted to the situations that came up and she would just sit there and listen.  During certain parts of my session she would ask a simple question.  Sometimes it was "how did that make you feel?"  Other times "do you think that helped or that maybe you were wrong and should have acted differently?"  What I found in her methods amazed me.  She was never the one to tell me what was wrong or right.  She let me discover the solutions to my own problems and she let me develop my own opinions and views.

The process of growing and developing your own healthy thought patterns and solutions to problems is the single most helpful thing that has happened to me.  I went from being in the darkest time of my life to the most productive and joyful person that I have ever been.  I didn't grow by listening to someone's view and opinion of what I should be or how I should think.  I found the answers on my own.

The beautiful thing about therapy is that is doesn't have to be with a licensed therapist.  There are so many therapeutic ways of going about life.  Sometimes it involves someone going on a drive by themselves listening to music that relaxes them.  Sometimes it involves playing video games with friends.  Sometimes it is writing in a journal or a blog.  Hobbies or events that allow you to express your feelings and "work shit out" in your mind are always the most overlooked things in your life.  

Just because your friends don't like to go on drives...just because your family doesn't like video games...just because no one reads your blog or will ever touch your journal...this doesn't mean that it doesn't help you.  The beauty behind therapy is that it isn't for anyone else but you.  You aren't trying to help someone else.  You aren't trying to impress others.  You are working things out in your mind.  You are growing and developing in ways and methods that are comfortable and familiar to you.

It is in this way that I consider therapy the unknown necessity.  It is in my honest opinion that if everyone found and took advantage of the things that were therapeutic in their lives that the world would be a better place.  If everyone found one person that was completely neutral in their opinions on your life that you could talk to about anything and everything there would be less chaos in the world.

Despite what you think about yourself and your current mental well-being, there is an area in your life where you need therapy.  A therapeutic outlet will improve your life and mental stability in ways that you will never understand or experience otherwise.  Some need therapy more than others...and some should and need to see a licensed therapist...either way, however, therapy will help.  Although it is often unknown in people's lives, it is a necessity...an unknown necessity...