Why Therapy Will Make a Mess of Your Life (Not)

Something that I often remind my clients of is that lasting growth tends to look worse before it looks better. Chaos must exist for it to be organized. The reason why it may feel worse in the beginning of therapy is that, when you start sharing your stories and opening up the hurt places, it can feel overwhelming because you are bringing those painful feelings back to the surface. However, this is temporary. So many people never heal because they are afraid to express their feelings. And while it may be a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, the path is to go through to get to the other side.

I came across this little blurb, a light-hearted analogy of therapy and cleaning, a long time ago from a website that is no longer active, so I'm not able to provide a reference to it. While some of this may be true of cleaning, it is especially true of therapy.

In therapy…
 … you unpack the relics of your past, the things accumulated over time, some burdensome and some treasured.
 … you learn how to cope with your chaos instead of shoving it back into the closet.
 … you invite someone into your mess, and realize that you don’t have to be “clean” to be worthy of love.
 … you let go of the things that no longer fit, and organize what you want to keep.
 … you find that even when it’s chaotic and overwhelming and hard to see the growth, you’ll eventually start to see your true self in the midst of the mess.
 … and, perhaps most importantly, you don’t have to face any of your mess alone.

---

JOIN MICHELE ON A JOURNEY OF WHOLENESS

A newsletter with inspiration and other good stuff every now and again.
And, you'll stay up to date with upcoming offerings.