I don't think of my therapy as doing what is expected of me by anyone other than myself.

Here's what I expect of myself and my own therapy:

1. Commit to being honest and open with my therapist no matter how hard that is. He can't help me if I'm hiding from him (and ultimately myself).

2. Commit to doing the hard work of applying what I am learning about myself to life outside the four walls of T's office. It does no good to just give lip service to what I'm talking about in the safety of his office. I'm in therapy to improve my real life the other 6 days and 23 hours a week.

3. Commit to not giving up when I backslide. Forgive myself for being human and not always getting it right. I can keep working on it until it finally becomes second nature, even if that takes a long time and many replays to get there.

4. Commit to finding my life within myself. T can be my sounding board. T can be my support. T can help me learn more about myself and learn skills to manage. But only I can really find myself and my life. No one can do that for me.

5. Commit to slowing down and making conscious healthy choices about how I live, how I react, and how I behave. I have choices and that is empowering.