Hello!
Long time fan here! Thank you for all the content you put out there. It's really helped me reframe my own worldview and mostly feel less alone.
I'd love to get your thoughts on my current therapy situation. I am about 9 months into weekly therapy and it's been wonderful. I really like my therapist and I feel like I've learned a lot about self compassion and generally am a lot nicer to myself. BUT... I came into therapy with hopes of tackling some unresolved trauma, broken family relationships, panic attacks, and some gender stuff. I feel like sometimes the day-to-day problems get in the way of these bigger issues/topics. I hate the job I'm at and it's having a huge negative impact on my mental health so we've been working on that more immediate issue. I feel like I'm not making progress towards the things that I want to be making progress on because of the job dilemma. I guess my question is how do you tackle all your issues when you have a lot of issues? And how do you work through past trauma when you're limited to one hour a week and everyday life is also a struggle? Should I just quit my job, get 5 more therapists, and become a professional therapy client?
Bonus question: Even with therapy, I am still struggling mentally A LOT and I feel like lately things have gotten worse (is that just the state of the world though???). How do I know when it's time to supplement therapy with medication?
Any thoughts are welcomed here! Thanks again for all the work you put out there. It really does make a difference.
Warmly,
Sara (She/maybe they???)
Dear Sara,
This is such an interesting (and difficult) question. It also speaks to a conversation that often happens between mental health professionals: how important is our past versus our here and now? Some people would argue the here and now stands above all else while others believe you can’t properly tackle the here and now without some understanding and processing of what got you there. I have often found myself conflicted in terms of what I believe. Reading your email, I could feel my bias for focusing on your job problems because that feels the most immediate. But I also want to hold space for the frustration of not addressing what you came to address.