This site has a great rundown of the basic concepts of Alfred Adler. A few weeks ago I had a talk with a friend of mine who, to my surprise, informed me that they were attending counseling. I was impressed at this admission and that they had initiated this on their own. It started me thinking about how I really should do something like that. I’ve always had this attitude that I can ‘fix’ my own issues myself, but if you know me you know that I see to always have certain problems. That’s not to say that I’m completely fucked up although some (not mentioning names here) would differ, just that I think it might help to have an objective opinion about things. Someone who will have real strategies for dealing with things. I don’t know. Has anyone else found this to be beneficial?
Seeing a professional is quite beneficial for all the reasons you stated above.. They not only provide objective insight, but you also maintain a professional relationship with them so you can feel completely comfortable talking to them. If you visit a profesional you do not even need to choose therapy. It is not a bad way to get advice on life.
I had some counseling too, last spring, and it really helped me out a lot. You should try it if it’s possible. At least you’d get the least biased opinion possible ;)
So far no one has mentioned the thing that I most appreciate about counseling, especially my last stint in therapy a few years ago. It’s hard to express exactly but the lesson I learned could be summed up by the phrase “It’s not just you.” If you’re dealing with people whose behavior you think is not OK, but everyone around you doesn’t seem to notice, a therapist can validate your feelings about the situation and help you deal with that person. If you are having a hard time doing something that other people think should be easy, a therapist can understand why that thing is challenging for you and help you figure out some strategies to help. In my experience, learning to trust your instincts about situations means you’re halfway to learning to deal with them better.
Whether or not you try counseling, Chris, I think it’s really good that you’re discussing it on the blog. Just as your friend helped you to consider it as a possibility, your talking about it might encourage other people who could benefit from counseling.
I’m going to check out that Adler stuff now…