It takes an enormous amount of courage to book an appointment.
There are lots of reasons to not phone/email to set up a counselling appointment. These are a few of the reasons we've heard:
- Maybe it's not so bad. I think I'll try a little longer on my own
- It's pretty costly. I'd like to avoid the expense
- I'm just too busy or stressed to take time to go to an appointment
- It would upset me more to talk about this than to try to ignore it.
- She'll cool down, and it'll blow over in a week or two, like it has before, and then we'll be OK again.
- My friend/I went once and all the therapist did was nod and smile/talk about her own family/repeat back to me what I said. It was awful.
In fact, one of our therapists, Carolyn Klassen has heard the same real concerns from many people over the years. She addresses each of those concerns carefully and respectfully in the book: Thinking Therapy--No to Maybe, available for purchase at our office or online at Kobo and Amazon. Don't feel like you have to go to therapy, discover that if you learn about it, you may desire to go to therapy:
There is no doubt that there may be some truth to the above concerns. Counselling is a significant investment in terms of time and financial resources.There are times when it is not right to attend counselling. However, ensure that your concerns make sense for you, and are not merely "excuses" for you not to call for something that does make sense for you.
Other concerns may include:
- Seeing a counselor means I'm pathetic and needy
- Going to see a therapist is a sign of weakness because it says I couldn't solve this on my own
- I'd be so embarrassed talking about this with another person
- If _________ found out I was going for therapy, I'd never live it down
Make. No. Mistake. Coming to counselling is an act of bravery, and a commitment to engage in an active process to improve your life. This is admirable...big time.
When you or your loved one are considering or have booked an appointment with us or any other therapist, you might want to consider purchasing this picture book to help prepare you for the first session. The beautiful images and the encouraging text will help make it possible to get to the first session!
Around here, we often marvel at how our clients dare bravely to be courageously vulnerable in a manner that is counter-cultural. The amount of vulnerability that must be mustered up to come with a spouse or on your own to speak with a therapist is enormous.
However, we have seen, over and over and over, how that risk has paid off...deliberately exposing and exploring that which you have ignored/suppressed/pushed away is incredibly liberating and has you gain greater control. The relief in losing that feeling of being hijacked by anxiety/depression/relationship patterns/grief/compulsive behaviours /angry outbursts is huge.
It is often hard work that can prove rewarding. Often, people have misgivings even after they have made the appointment, wondering, "Should I cancel?". To be a somewhat uncertain about coming to the initial appointment is quite typical. We honor your trust in us as we join with you for a short while on your journey of life. We work with you carefully and clearly to make this experience worth your time, money, and risk in being vulnerable.
If you are interested in booking an appointment or have questions, please contact us phone 204 275 1045 or email.