A day in the life of a therapist

What’s a day in the life of a therapist like?

Today I have 5 clients to see.  They are all regular clients who I’ve been working with for a very long time.

Often people seek a therapist when they’re going through something tough and when they’ve overcome the main issue they like to keep connected as a ‘safety net’ and someone to explore their thoughts and concerns with on an ongoing basis.

I’m so pleased that people feel that a therapist or counsellor is more accessible and ‘acceptable’ nowadays.  There still remains a stigma, but I believe that bit by bit it’s disappearing.  Certainly, I notice that older clients grapple with the very idea of coming to sessions, whereas the younger generations are more at ease with it from the start.

Post session reflections (unconnected):

• The decision not to allow a young person (with a degree of awareness and consciousness of the world around them) not to attend the funeral of a person they loved and will miss and whose departure from this earth will leave a hole in their world, can be utterly devastating to them later in life.  Endings and closure are important aspects of the grieving process.

• Our minds are so powerful.  Most athletes or elite sportspeople are aware that our minds are more likely to let us down than our bodies.  As Henry Ford once said, “whether you think you can or whether you think you cannot, you are right.”  (Disclaimer:  I am not saying it’s easy to think positively or to overcome anxiety.  Far from it.  Simple yes, easy no.)

• It’s hard to retain love in a relationship when we feel unheard and de-valued.  Communication can improve this, but we move through different stages of need in our lives.  Sometimes we grow (develop) out of a need and the relationship may suffer.

In my next post, I’m going to talk about how to live well.