The purpose of therapy

Sometimes people will ask - what is therapy even for? I asked myself this in the early days of therapist training, battling with various attitudes and beliefs about it that made me initially confused about whether it really is my purpose. 

But now I know, and have seen it, and felt it. 

Therapy is for finding parts of yourself you forgot about or pushed away. Especially those that once shone brightly, that you left somewhere after a bad experience in childhood. A part of you that you can now meet again. 

Therapy is for growth, change, and discovering that you can make new choices everyday. Stopping caffeine, saying no when you’d usually say yes, choosing to relate with love rather than anger…it just needs practice. 

Therapy is for experiencing a warm, compassionate, secure attachment relationship (with healthy boundaries). Therapy is for healing relational trauma. 

Therapy is for learning coping strategies, skills, and developing your knowledge of the mind.

Therapy is for self-understanding, awareness and chasing insights (and the more you have, the more you want). 

Therapy is for learning to love yourself if you’ve never been able to, and your therapist can facilitate that, by being a mirror. 

Now that is a purpose to nurture, and one I can live by.