The Benefits of Therapy

I always seem to post something during Mental Health Awareness Month and Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, likely because I have more free time on my hands then. This year, I'm posting a bullet-point personal list of reasons explaining how investing in my own mental health has benefited me. Enjoy!

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How personal talk therapy has helped me:

• Helps me understand where negative self-talk comes from and teaches me how to replace it with neutral self-talk (stating observations) and self-compassion
• Disrupts familiar patterns of shame & guilt by teaching me how to recognize them
• Encourages me to think about the emotions and behaviors I have associated with sensitive topics, and teaches me to work through them instead of subconsciously dreading or avoiding them
• Explores and encourages me to trust my intuition and my own observations.
• Teaches me that I’m not responsible for anybody else’s emotions and/or behaviors — never was as a child, and never will be as an adult.
• Helps me tackle the fallacies of Imposter Syndrome and assess my strengths and weaknesses more objectively
• Teaches me to recognize that individuals who act inappropriately towards me are the ones with a problem, and I am not the problem - I now find it funny and incredulous when a keyboard warrior or patient insults me, rather than feeling as if I’m at fault.

 

How engaging w/ culturally-competent communities (race, ethnicity, spirituality) has helped me:

• Helps me unpack my own stigma towards seeking mental health care
• Helps me identify the difference between culture and trauma, and guides me to stop making excuses for “cultural practices” disguised as emotional or mental abuse
• Helps me understand larger historical patterns and forms of systemic oppression that manifest in the individual’s body, mind, and behavior - such as in the form of internalized racism or internalized misogyny.
• Allows me to recognize internalized racism and misogyny in people around me, as well as people’s reactions when I defy their preconceived expectations for how I should act, or set boundaries
• Allows me to recognize the root of certain anxieties and my resistance to giving myself the benefit of the doubt in higher ed programs or the workplace
• Teaches me that I don’t have to justify my existence in certain spaces to anyone - I am allowed to exist apart from the capital I generate, my level of “intelligence,” my external appearance, my usefulness to those in power
• Affirms that healthy sexuality is not a stumbling block, a source of shame, or a reason to be harassed or attacked by others
• Teaches me that anger, grief, discomfort, and fear are not bad emotions and can be trusted, because they exist to protect us
• Affirms that I can trust my own experiences and that I am capable of making my own decisions
• Gives me extremely relatable memes
• Shows me that I’m not alone

Was it worth the $$$ and time?
YES. Two years ago, I was incredibly anxious and depressed, and my quality of life has improved since then. My interviewing skills have improved, I attempted to negotiate my salary for the first time, I’m less afraid to ask for help, and I make a much better impression on others with my confidence.

Full Disclosure: I started therapy shortly before the pandemic hit the U.S. and many of my co-pays were waived completely for my first couple of months. I am paying $20 co-pays for weekly sessions at the moment, as mental health is covered by my student insurance. The virtual communities that I opt into with Facebook, Instagram, and potentially other platforms are free. I can’t justify the cost to anybody else, but the cost to myself has been invaluable.