How becoming a therapist has changed me
I believe that becoming a therapist has changed me in the best ways.
Working with people with Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) has shown me the value of resilience and the importance of honesty and the damage of dishonesty.
Working with immigrants has shown me the privilege and the benefit of being born in the United States and how much entitlement comes with it that I have frequently taken for granted.
Working with women with Herpes has shown me that sometimes a really big turning point in your life can push you to deal with the stuff you may not have yet.
Working with people with chronic depression, anxiety, and PTSD, can still have hope to get better. Ketamine can show them that there is another way to view life challenges and live with all the things that are challenging instead of trying to dissect them out.
I would never choose another career. Being a therapist has helped me be appreciative of my struggles as a person with a complicated life. I’ve learned how to take those struggles and make them my purpose. I know that is not possible for everyone, but I believe that there is something to learn in everything. In bad moments you can surprise yourself with resilience and determination. In happy moments you can surprise yourself with the “what if this doesn’t last forever?” And you can catch yourself dooming yourself to try to protect yourself from pain. It doesn’t actually often serve to save you from anything or prepare you to deal with the pain, loss, and grief anyway.
I have learned from people’s heartbreaks and my own sometimes, there can be immense love and happiness. The reminder of the fact that it was lost is the gift from grieving. You wouldn’t grieve the loss of something if it didn’t truly MEAN something to you.
I’m not sure I would have these life changing lessons if I was not a therapist. I get to sit with people in their darkest and lightest places. I watch people hold conflicting emotions together. And the fact that they realize they have capacity to hold all gives me the proof that I can too.
I have seen forgiveness without the false pretense of excusing behavior. I have seen regret and restoration. I have seen apology and forgiveness of oneself. I have forgiven myself and forgiven others without forgetting. All of these things are for me. We all find our own ways to get what we need, even if it means hurting others. Some people will take responsibility and others won’t .
Being a therapist has shown me that anything is possible. Good and evil, it all exists. People can be both good and evil. I have dark parts I don’t feel good about and light parts that could run the world.
What have you learned by being human?
