When we’re kids, we are told a lot about what it means to be a grownup, and these concepts stick with us as adults. We understand that grownups don’t need help with things, can keep their emotions on the inside, and have only themselves to rely on for truly personal matters. Grownups also have to do things like go to work and pay the bills without seeming too sad or tired, and many of us were raised with the idea that therapy is for crazy people. While all of this is circumstantially true, (adults do have to pay the bills and crazy people do go to therapy), these messages also don’t include the whole picture. A lot of adults go to individual therapy in order to be better grownups, and to get advice from a professional on how to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. As an adult, having a therapist you go to regularly, or even just when you’re extra stressed out, can make the rigors of adulthood a lot easier.
The Luxury of a Confidant
Even for people who live with a spouse or close romantic partner, it can help to have a neutral third party to confide in. Someone who won’t take your internal thought process personally and can help you sort through complex feelings and decisions. Many people don’t have the luxury of a truly neutral friend who is safe to confide in, but a therapist has dedicated their career to offering well-thought-out advice without judgment and with complete confidentiality. Having a personal therapist to share your struggles with, even just to listen to you work things out aloud, can help you keep your life in order without upsetting those close to you with your stormy internal process.
Meeting Personal Goals
One of the things therapists are trained for is setting and meeting goals. Whether you want to improve your efficiency at work or train yourself to have a more positive self-image, your therapist will be able to help you refine the goals and make a personal plan to meet them. When you struggle, they will offer moral support and suggestions on how to cope with obstacles to keep moving forward toward your ideal result. Eventually, you’ll get the hang of the goal making-and-meeting process and guide yourself toward goal after goal, becoming someone you can really be proud of.
Individual therapy for adults is an incredibly useful way to sort out your thoughts and feelings and to move forward with your life. Thank you for joining us for the first half of this two-part series, please stay tuned for part two where we’ll talk about stress, coming in whenever you want to, and how to handle your own choices when it comes to when to seek the advice of a professional counselor. If you want to talk to someone about your life today, contact us. We’re here to listen and help.