Often times I am asked why is counseling important? Or why do you have to meet each week? These are important questions and something that should be discussed with anyone who enters or is seeking counseling. Allow me to give you my perspective.
Let’s say you have a pain running down your arm. It has lasted for days. It doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. What would you do? Some would say go to a doctor. In fact, this is the most popular answer. So then why do we avoid going to see someone for our emotional pain? Why wouldn’t you want to alleviate mental pain just as quickly as physically pain? This is part of what counseling is meant to accomplish: reducing or alleviating emotional pain/stress. Of course, there are multitudes of other areas of counseling just like medicine, but this is one example.
So let me address the other question. Why weekly? Have you ever watched someone heal from a significant injury? Usually this requires some form of physical therapy. They go each week to stretch muscles and/or increase strength. When sessions are skipped, it takes longer to recover or gains that have been made can be lost. Counseling is no different. It is structured as a weekly session so that you can “stretch” those emotional muscles and learn strategies to increase or gain strength. It helps you maintain skills throughout the week, When time elapses, you may take longer to build those “emotional muscles” or loses some of the gains made. Why make it harder on yourself? Afterall, counseling is meant to lessen a burden, not increase it.
