You may have heard that therapy is not the place for politics, and that therapists are obligated to maintain neutrality in the room, regardless of their personal beliefs. It is true that there used to be a time when therapists were trained this way, and this history still finds its way into many or most training programs. Today, there are still therapists who attempt to practice this way. I am not one of them. In fact, my practice is founded on the basis that our mental and spiritual health is intertwined with the ways in which we interact with the world and the world interacts with us- individually and collectively. Our racial identities and experiences are a core part of how the world interacts with us, and we cannot meditate or therapize ourselves out of the reality of racism. 

As many of us continue to be living with stay at home orders, social distancing, and limited options for safely engaging with the outside world, we are spending more time with ourselves. I am hearing from many that this increase in self-reflective time has increased the pre-therapy jitters. It’s common to feel a bit nervous before a therapy session. In a pre-pandemic world, it may have been a quieter build up of nerves due to rushing to session (maybe even in person) from work, or going right into a social get together after a session. With less face to face interaction with others, we can hear ourselves that much more clearly, and that might bring up fears of doing therapy “wrong” or fear of really being seen in therapy. Today we’ll take a look at factors that contribute to these nerves, how to cope, and when it might be time to reconsider your path with therapy. 

The topic of this week’s post is how to discern between feeling a sense of agency versus having a sense of control, with a focus on believing that you are doing enough! I have heard from many of you this past week that so much about life feels out of control right now -- and you are absolutely right. I have heard many of you say you wish you could do more, and I hear you. I’m right there with you in this uncertainty. We cannot control the outcomes of how this global pandemic impacts others or ourselves. We cannot control how we react emotionally. However, we absolutely can work to feel a sense of agency in our daily choices and how we choose to cope with the strong emotions that may be evoked during this time.