Seriously — the next time you’re at a party and you meet someone who just started seeing a therapist, park yourself next to them and play a drinking game (this is assuming that substance abuse isn’t one of the reasons you’ve visited this website): every time they mention their shrink, take a sip. You won’t be able to stand by the time the night is over.
The reason why people become so talkative is that they’re truly excited about the process. They might even be feeling optimistic for the first time in a long time. It’s only natural to feel excited and to want to share that excitement with others.
And yet, before those people actually started seeing a therapist, they were probably resistant to discussing the idea with anyone else, hesitant to take even the first step — the very step that that you, the reader of this post, took by clicking the link that delivered you to this page.
Unfortunately, there’s still a lot of shame and stigma associated with seeking out help. So much so that many of the people who need help have trouble recognizing and accepting that fact. They’ll do everything you can to delude themselves into believing they’re OK: they don’t want to admit it to themselves, and they don’t want to admit it to others. They know they need help, but they don’t know how to ask for it. So they just don’t talk about it. Even when they bottom out and finally decide that they have no other option but to seek out therapy, they are still carrying that shame with them.
Which is why we’re writing this series of articles about the first stages of the therapeutic process. Because we know that many people who are looking for a therapist for the first time don’t know where or how to look — and because we also know that those people often feel as if they don’t have anywhere to turn, to guide them to the ideal provider.
Of course, that’s part of the beauty of Rappore: with our unique Mental Health Fingerprint analysis, we’re able to match you immediately to the perfect therapist for you. So you don’t have to go through any of the steps we’ll be detailing in this series. Except for the first: deciding that you want (or need) to see a therapist.