PERSONAL THERAPY SHOULD BE OBLIGATORY FOR EVERYONE 

Radical, I know. 

But think about it. Say you hit a big problem, like whether to leave your partner or not. Who do you talk to about it? Your parents will be upset, because they just want you to be happy. Your best friend will only tell you what they want you to hear, because that’s why they’re your best friend. A work colleague may not have met your partner so they’ll have no idea what to say, and you can’t talk to your partner because that’s the problem. 

Or you’re just bumbling along but you keep making the same mistakes and you don’t know why. Or you want to work out the next step in your career, although you’re not sure you even want to do it any more. Or you’ve lost someone very dear to you, or a much-loved pet and you feel people just don’t want to hear about it any more. 

Sometimes counselling is good for just checking in with yourself once a week, as at no other time do you get to talk about yourself for an hour without listening to the other person’s stuff too. And a good counsellor will call you on your shit, if you want them to. (I am anti just nodding whilst listening to a client sabotage themselves and others.) I see all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons, and I always say that if something’s bothering them, then it’s important, even if they think it isn’t. 

I strongly believe that if people were made to stop and think once a week for an hour, toxic marriages and unnecessary wars and farcical Brexits might have been avoided. And better friendships and fulfilling lives and healthier thinking might have been achieved. It’s especially important these days, as many ‘opinions are my own’ have been taken from people shouting on social media, without stopping to think if you really agree, and then having the courage to say you don’t. These days you’ve either got to think like me or don’t think at all. 

We all need an impartial ear and a sounding board and a look at our personality at some point in our lives, and counsellors/therapists offer just that. It’s not a sign of weakness to go for therapy, it shows strength and courage. 

I just wish everyone would take a long hard look at themselves before inflicting their best thinking on others. Think what you could have avoided if only you’d talked to someone first... go on, give it a go, I dare you xxx 

PS I realise that not everyone can afford a private counsellor, and yet so many people need to see one. More about this later.