About a month ago, I was finally able to put aside my fears and doubts about starting counseling and sought out the help of a mental health professional. Considering the fact that all my social media accounts are flooded with positive affirmations and aesthetic pictures of why self-love is so important, my hesitancy towards seeking out professional help is almost ironic. Mental health is finally on its way to being destigmatized but the idea of reaching out for counseling made me feel as if I was giving up on trying to help myself. There was a sense of pride in being able to get through hard times on my own and seeking out help somehow felt like I was admitting that I wasn’t capable. To anyone who is considering going to counseling and can relate to some of these thoughts, I hope this article can serve as a space to help you explore your feelings on the topic as well.
On the day I first scheduled my appointment for counseling, I actually had no intention to start therapy. I was walking back from my discussion class and noticed that I hadn’t visited the LGBTQ Campus Resource Center yet this year. After walking in, I started to ask about support groups for Queer individuals that discuss current LGBTQ issues and they had mentioned that their counseling sessions won’t begin until winter quarter. This opened a huge floodgate of emotions for me and I found myself crying just at the thought of not being able to talk to someone soon enough about how I was feeling in terms of my Queer identity. Thankfully, someone was kind enough to walk me over to counseling and helped me schedule my first counseling session.
With all this being said, my first time scheduling an appointment was absolutely terrifying. It felt like I was confronting an aspect of my life that I wasn’t necessarily prepared to deal with, but I knew I shouldn’t repress so harshly. Now that I have had a few sessions with my counselor, I am extremely grateful to say that I am feeling considerably better about my acceptance of my Queer identity. The session itself truly helped me gain the vocabulary to verbalize how I was feeling and validated what I was going through. Considering how I felt about reaching out to mental health care professionals before, I’ve learned that most of my fears about starting counseling revolved around the fact that I thought that my problems were not legitimate.
After starting counseling I can say with conviction that everyone should feel able to seek out counseling if that is something that they are considering in their lives. While it can be extremely daunting, I am really glad to say that this was a tangible step towards bettering my relationship with myself and others. I absolutely wish that for anyone going through a hard time in their life or for anyone who simply wants to get to know themselves a little better during this introspective time in our lives!