[stopdog]

The idea that therapy requires bravery or strength comes up here from time to time. For me no - I think it is something a therapist tells clients to manipulate them and I find it a bit insulting. But, as I am often not the norm - I wondered if others consider it so.
Do you consider that doing therapy means one is brave or anything of that nature?

Yes to me. Having mental health issues or emotional issues is stigmatised in my nation and culture. Even among healthcare workers and of course ordinary people.

[growlycat]

I've always thought that was an odd concept. I think we are brave for what we lived through. To me talking about it is more of a need. So I don't see my need to eat or breathe as being brave.

[velcro003]

I chose the second option. I wouldn't consider myself "brave" or anything like that, but it has been hard, but i do continue it because I like my T, and have seen some progress. I know myself well enough I quit easily when things get tough, so therapy has helped a little in that I haven't quit it

No. I used to, but not anymore. I do think it is something therapists say to manipulate and it is insulting. I also hate when therapists say they're "proud" of clients. I hate that SO MUCH.

Yes, making the commitment to do whatever I needed to do, to face my demons, to break my silence, took a huge act of courage. That concept of courage was NOT something my therapists manipulated me into believing. I knew it from the moment I took that first huge risk to speak and ask for help.

Originally Posted by growlycat

I've always thought that was an odd concept. I think we are brave for what we lived through. To me talking about it is more of a need. So I don't see my need to eat or breathe as being brave.

Same here.

[MobiusPsyche]

Yes I do think it's brave to tear things apart in the hopes that they get put back together again but better than before. It's brave to open yourself up to another human being to the extent I do in therapy. It's brave to say "I know something isn't right here" when everyone else in your family is carrying on as if nothing is the slightest bit amiss. And for many other reasons, yes, therapy takes bravery and courage.

[leomama]

Absolutely. In family mental illness is denied .

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[Pennster]

I am not sure. I think sometimes some of the things I talk about in therapy require me to be brave to bring them up. But I don't feel like the act of going in to talk to this super-kind person who really strives to be consistently compassionate is something that requires bravery. For me it's a bit of a refuge from a world that can sometimes be far less kind.

This is an interesting question.

I feel lucky to be able to participate in therapy. Many cannot afford it.
I also feel lucky to have the psychological insight to know I need/ed therapy--many people who seem to need it do not realize it.

So I guess I feel more fortunate about it than anything. There was a time in my life when I couldn't even afford to go to a regular doctor appointment, so it seems like more of a luxury. Anything above and beyond food, basic clothing, and a roof over my head seems like a luxury compared to how I used to live.

Sorry i got off track. Like I said, it's an interesting question.

[atisketatasket]

Since my definition of "brave" involves doing things like landing on the beaches of Normandy, refusing to break under torture, or climbing Mount Everest without oxygen, I answered I don't even know what that means (at least in therapy).

No. 1 and No. 3 have said I am brave, but I've done nothing brave. I go sit in a cushy office once or twice a week and talk to a relative stranger, telling them what I know I should do about x y z. Then I do it, sometimes right away, sometimes not. But whenever I do it, to me it is not brave.

I do agree with growly that any bravery involved comes before therapy in surviving trauma. After that, therapy's a relative cakewalk.

(The opinions in this post are mine and apply to me and should not be taken to make grandiose statements about others who can speak for themselves.)

[TrailRunner14]

Yes!! I do agree that it means being brave. To me, I could have stayed in the dissociated places that I went to when things were bad, but an awakening happened when I couldn't do that anymore.

When I first started meeting with my counselor, he cautioned me that it would change who I was and also change my relationships with the people I was close to. In that moment, it didn't matter. There was no choice for me. A decision had already made in my mind/spirit that it was going to play out. There was no going back. It was kind of like jumping off a cliff. You don't rethink it.

There was numb bravery there, in desperation. There was no other way to get past where I was. Blind leap of faith. That was 2+ years ago.

It still takes bravery to walk through the points of impact I am still discovering. I also believe there is bravery in the fact that I can't stop until I get to the other side and I can't stop until I find all of the frozen parts of myself that were injured and waiting for me to find them, dust them off and tell them, "It's ok. You're ok. Let's do this!" I do believe that's bravery for me and for them.

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[annielovesbacon]

I don't consider myself brave for going to therapy, but it took a great deal of condensed courage for me to START therapy. I was very afraid to go. But now that I've been, I don't find myself brave just for going.

[Luce]

If anything I think going to therapy is a sure sign that one is privileged.
From a world wealth perspective that is... in a world where if one has a roof over ones head, consistently has food on one's table and a couple hundred dollars in the bank then they are in the top 1% of the world's wealthiest inhabitants.

[unaluna]

Other. It is a privilege. It is unfortunate that it was a necessity. But the unexamined life is not worth living.

Horrors of therapy - really? : rolleyes :

[stopdog]

Yes, really. I find the activity of therapy to be quite unpleasant - verily horrible. Not completely unuseful - but completely unpleasant.

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by unaluna

Other. It is a privilege. It is unfortunate that it was a necessity. But the unexamined life is not worth living.

Horrors of therapy - really? : rolleyes :

Hey, Socrates - respect the pollster's license!

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Hey, Socrates - respect the pollster's license!

I wondered about that, was it license or actual FEEEEEEEELING. Does the pollee not get to editorialize? Or are we already going back to the gw bush years - "no comments from the peanut gallery!"

[stopdog]

Everybody is a critic. The pollster's lot is not an easy one. I have grown inured to the slings and arrows and sarcastic blinky pictures that are often my reward for trying to create non-boring poll choices.

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by stopdog

Everybody is a critic. The pollster's lot is not an easy one. I have grown inured to the sarcastic blinky picture.

Hey at least i voted. And i spelled out my emoticon. And i purposely chose a non blinky one.

I still think you have astigmatism if you think everything is blinky! Im concerned for you!

[stopdog]

Any of those little pictures cause my brain to start blinking.

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by stopdog

Everybody is a critic. The pollster's lot is not an easy one. I have grown inured to the slings and arrows and sarcastic blinky pictures that are often my reward for trying to create non-boring poll choices.

I still remember the one with the Roman death penalty with fondness.

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by stopdog

Everybody is a critic. The pollster's lot is not an easy one. I have grown inured to the slings and arrows and sarcastic blinky pictures that are often my reward for trying to create non-boring poll choices.

Those who cant do, tweet.

There have certainly been times it has taken strength to continue, especially when I left T1 and met with current T. It was tremendously hard to break away from that attachment and I did it anyway, even when I was unsure about current T (reading back over my old posts on here, on several occasions I said I felt current T was sinister, which surprised me because it's the opposite to how I feel now) I persevered which I think did take courage. I could have gone back to my comfort zone (T1) but I knew it was wrong to.