Hands

Sharing – Is Friendship Therapy the Next Big Thing in Mental Health?

Friends are increasingly going to therapy together.

This is interesting. I don’t imagine doing this myself at this point in my life, but there is some logic to it. With loneliness and all of the mental health issues that can be caused at epidemic levels, why shouldn’t we fight to work through problems that are breaking apart our friendships in the same way we would do the same for romantic partnerships?

It sounds odd to me. But I realize that may be because I grew up and live in a society that doesn’t place enough value on friendship. If I want to value my friends more, why wouldn’t I do whatever I could to stay connected to my closest friends? Therapy could be a viable alternative to ending close friendships and losing connections that make a difference in our lives.

So, why not friendship therapy?

https://time.com/7014493/what-is-friendship-therapy/

Similar Posts

  • Sharing – Are you okay? The power of storytelling in mental health

    As I mentioned, in the workplace this is true. Very few people are going to feel safe talking about their own struggles if the leaders in the company never open up about their own at some level. But, it’s also true in our relationships as well.

    How many of us wish the people in our lives, spouses, kids, siblings, friends and loved ones, would feel comfortable talking to us about their struggles, yet we never share our own? How would they know that you are a safe person to talk to if you appear to never have any struggles?

    Let me give you a prime example from my own life. As many of you know, I worked from home before the pandemic started, and continued to do so all the way through 2020. It had very little impact beyond some lack of socializing, on my life, and so when I compared that to what many others were going through in 2020, I didn’t really want to complain about the things I was struggling with. Most people I did talk to, didn’t really talk about their own struggles either. Finally, however, when I wrote a post about not being OK right now, and shared it across my social media profiles, including LinkedIn, I got notes and messages from a ton of people, some who I haven’t even been in touch with in awhile, telling me about their struggles as well.

    I attribute that to two things. One, I know a lot of amazing people who see someone struggling and immediately set out to make sure I knew I wasn’t alone, and two, by sharing my own difficulties, I also provided them a safe place to share their own struggles.

    Isn’t that what it’s really all about?

    So, what are you struggling with that you have been hiding? What good is hiding doing for you?

  • Sharing – Common Mental Health Advice We Should Actually Ignore Right Now

    For example, I’m not anxious JUST because my brain is working overtime, or because I find myself focusing on the negative. I’m also anxious because over 400,000 people in the US have died from COVID-19 and a large number of people in my local area feel no need to change their behavior in acknowledgement of that fact.

    You know what that is? That is reality, and there’s no amount of “good vibes” that is going to make that reality not a reality. It’s totally normal to feel anxious about that, and telling me to “think positive”, or get more sleep, or exercise, isn’t going to change that.

    We all live in a very uncertain, and difficult, reality right now. The answer to social injustice and racism, again, is not just thinking positively about it. It’s having difficult, often painful, conversations about the topic. It’s about listening to other people’s experiences and working hard to understand the world differently than we did yesterday.

    That too, is a source of anxiety.

  • Link – Why I Want People To Stop Mentioning My Suicide Attempt

    This is important if someone you know has survived an attempt, or is even going through struggles with their mental health: I love that you love me. I love that you accept it has happened and haven’t buried it under the carpet. But please, don’t mention it. My suicide attempt is mine. There are so many emotions…

  • Link – Some children reach brink of suicide before getting help with mental health, charity warns

    Unfortunately, this is the reality in every country right now, where the available resources don’t even come close to meeting the need. When that situation exists, you have to prioritize, and resources generally only become available to the most severe cases. Of course, if we could get help to people before they become severe cases,…

  • Sharing – 5 Powerful Self-Care Tips for Abuse and Trauma Survivors

    This was written on the website for the Domestic Violence hotline, but the tips are relevant to anyone who has been abused or gone through trauma. This, for example, is similar to many things I’ve written about child abuse too:

    “Throughout this journey of healing from trauma and abuse, make sure that you are being compassionate towards yourself. A great deal of trauma survivors suffer from toxic shame and self-blame. It’s important that we are gentle towards ourselves during this journey, that we acknowledge that we are doing our very best, and that we ask ourselves every day, “What would be the most loving thing I can do for myself in this moment?” in any circumstance. There is no time limit to learning and healing, there is only the power of transforming our adversity into victory, one small step at a time.”

    Check out the article below to read more about how, exactly, to be gentle towards ourselves while still taking those small steps.

  • Link – It’s Time We Start to Talk About Depression Like the Common Illness That It Is

    “It was amazing to me to realize just how many people had gone through similar things as me. But no one knows these things until you start the conversation. So let’s start the freaking conversation. I am medicated to treat my depression. I love when people tell me they can’t believe I’m medicated. You seem…

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

To respond on your own website, enter the URL of your response which should contain a link to this post's permalink URL. Your response will then appear (possibly after moderation) on this page. Want to update or remove your response? Update or delete your post and re-enter your post's URL again. (Find out more about Webmentions.)