It’s simply not enough to profess to everyone, or worse still, scream and shout it atop your little rooftop garden about the importance of therapy and taking care of our mental health. It’s as obvious as going to the doctor when you’re sick. The problem isn’t knowing what to do, it’s knowing where to start.
We tend to forget that psychology isn’t a science like mathematics, where 2 + 2 is equal to 4. You just can’t get that same linear, simplistic, empiricism, that surgical precision, with mental illness. Each mind is a world of its own, a cornucopia of chaos, light and dark with many a shade of grey melded in. And because of this, the world of psychotherapy is a world of customization. There is no one-size-fits-all in this world, what you’ll find instead are a range of options, principles and theories that adjust to the needs of each person.
You could go to a psychologist who is guided by the Jungian method, maybe that suits you, or perhaps you’ll stumble upon (hopefully you won’t be stumbling, but walking gracefully into your therapist’s office… oh who’re we kidding, you’ll be sat on your couch with a tee and underwear on, laptop perched on the coffee table, and Zooming your session — wow, how the world’s changed!) anyway back to what I was saying, you’ll stumble… gracefully (a good compromise I’d say, hey, we’re in a relationship now, the holy alliance of writer and reader, and since we’re in this relationship, we need to compromise. Ok? Okkkk!!?? Good.) upon another therapist that prefers Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and maybe, you hit the mark, CBT works for, but then again maybe you should keep looking.