I’m a Therapist. Who’s Afraid of Therapy.

I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor wanting to provide the best, most ethical counselling services possible- which means I attend my own therapy. But here's the thing...

It scares me.

I was headed for counselling a few days ago and this was my thought process:

“I don’t wanna talk about my feelings. Nope. Not today.”

“What am I going to say? How is this going to go? It probably won’t even help.”

"I really should go."

“But I don’t wanna.” [Arms crossed emphatically while stomping foot]

“But there’s a 24hr cancellation policy so I’ll get charged either way.”

“Fine. I’ll go.”

So I went (nervously).

Because I have a skilled counsellor who is the right fit for me specifically, it helped. I felt less alone, stronger, more resilient, and had much more clarity. Let me be clear- I’ve had counsellors who weren’t the right fit for me and it wasn’t as useful.

So why am I admitting my nervousness when attending my own therapy?

One reason is because Every. Single. Person. coming to our office for counselling reports that on some level they were nervous before coming in. Turns out that facing your struggles and emotions isn’t easy (who knew)?

Another reason I’m writing this is to acknowledge that therapists are human beings and have human emotions and human struggles. This flies in the face of a patriarchal model of therapy that posits therapists as the experts who have all the answers who will fix all your problems for you because you know nothing.

At Peak Resilience, we truly believe that you have strength/solutions/clarity/resilience within you and our job is to help you discover these resources.

The final reason I’m writing this is to say that all of us at Peak Resilience are constantly amazed by our courageous and vulnerable clients. We know how difficult it can be to 1) come in for counselling and 2) find the right counsellor for you.

Thanks to all of our inspiring, brave clients and take care out there. Emotions are scary but therapy usually doesn’t end up being as scary as it seems (I promise).