After all, when it does happen, how many people are going to remember those extra hours we put in at work? Or the time we took a chance that didn’t work out? No, they’ll remember the things they shared with us. The memories we made together.
What kind of memories are you making today?
There is a huge unmet need, and I hope this pilot works out, and gets expanded to places where it’s most needed. And then, I hope other innovative ideas become reality as well.
We need them all.
Sadly, as much as apps like TalkSpace might offer ways for people with no local therapist to find one to work with online, they still suffer from this very basic issue:
“The underlying problem of access — the fact that there simply aren’t as many therapists as there are people who need therapy — has not been solved by therapy apps so much as papered over. “
If you’ve never been to see a therapist, it can seem overwhelming. Maybe you know other people who’ve been and didn’t like it, or what you saw in a movie didn’t look appealing to you, or maybe you’re just uncertain of how it all works.
So, if that is you, I wanted to share this video that Steph, from Sea Salt Rain Therapy in Canada posted on YouTube. She goes through the process of going in, filling out your paperwork, what level of confidentiality you have, and even what that first session may, or may not, mean for treatment going forward.
So, some of that 47% who think seeking therapy is a sign of weakness have, themselves, sought out therapy. I can only assume then that these messages about it being a sign of weakness are so ingrained that people will even view themselves as weak.
I know this feeling. It’s not easy to shake. We do, however, need to do it. It needs to be normalized to the point where we don’t view it as a weakness.
I saw this talk shared the other day and bookmarked it to go back and watch later. It’s a powerful talk given by Lori Prichard about her husband’s suicide. If you’ve not lived with depression, or lived close to someone dealing with it, you may have a hard time relating, but I want you to try, because I know how accurate this is. I’ve been depressed. I’ve lived with that bully inside of my own brain that told me every day how much better off people would be without me, and I managed to hide it and downplay it so that most people didn’t know anything was wrong at all, or as Lori put it, they let me get away with talking them out of any concerns.
