This is really an important topic. One of the most normalizing and healing parts of my psychotherapy was when my therapist was finally able to get me to get past my self-imposed isolation and get back in touch with my personal passions.

I went back to church, which for me was as much a part of who I was as pretty much anything else. I had grown up always involved in the church. My mother was an organist and we all were singers. But in the depths of my depression, I had stopped going to church, and it became apparent it was an aspect of my life I was really mourning for. That small community, particularly with the involvement in church choir, gave me a group of people I could rely on for friendship and support that had been missing.

Additionally, music has been a lifelong passion. I finally regained enough self-confidence to audition for a major symphony chorus and that involvement has become another source of challenge, friendship, and soul-fulfillment.

Therapy helped me regain the confidence to step away from my isolation and reclaim my passions. My passions helped me regain that internal mechanism for pleasure and contentment, allowing me to finally step away from therapy.

I distinctly remember how genuinely pleased both my therapist and my psychiatrist were for me when I told them I had taken the risk to get back involved with my music. It wasn't long after that I was able to say goodbye to them both and go it on my own.