Things aren’t “bad enough” for counseling?

Hello again! Something I have been thinking about a lot lately is this idea of having to be a certain level of sick in order to need/benefit from counseling. I have had a few clients in the past several weeks who have actually voiced concern about taking an hour away from another potential client who could benefit more than they are from their own therapy. When I hear this, I immediately think to myself, “what caregivers in the past have told you you’re not sick enough, sad enough, hurt enough, (you get the idea) that you don’t deserve attention or treatment?” However, we can touch on that big idea another time. 

This brings up a struggle I see in myself and my clients – we are in a constant state of comparison, especially with the way technology looks these days. We have access nearly all the time to hundreds of thousands of other people who are putting their best self on whatever platform they choose in order to gain followers, sell products, or maybe even get a crush to slide into their DMs. Regardless, it must be a conscious choice we make to avoid this comparison instinct in order to allow ourselves to get the help we need, even in therapy! 

For me, it comes down to a few things. When I hear the phrase “it could be worse” come out of a client’s mouth, I immediately ask, “could it be better?” If the answer is yes, then I want to keep seeing you! What matters to me is if you feel you are benefitting from being in therapy, because in reality, there will likely always be someone out of the 7 billion of us who walk this earth who has it worse – that’s just reality. Another thing I like to remind both myself and clients who are feeling like they don’t deserve treatment is that there are thousands of therapists in your state, and if you are willing and able to show up every week and do the work, then I can nearly guarantee your therapist is on board to keep seeing you, even if you feel like you’re dealing with what you label as ‘low-level’ problems. If it’s a problem, we want to help you! It doesn’t matter where it falls on this imaginary spectrum of the worst problems to have as a human.

The takeaway here is that you deserve to go to counseling, especially if people in your life have told you that you don’t. Going to counseling is a very personal and brave decision, and one that should be celebrated, whether you go for one session or one hundred sessions. 

Thanks for being here! 

Meagan

Disclaimer: This blog is for informational and educational purposes, and is not to be used as a substitute for a therapeutic relationship, individualized mental healthcare, or medical healthcare.