My Therapist Told Me Not to Make New Years Resolutions

The end of December brought me to the end of another benefit’s year and the startling realization that I had yet to use any of the benefits amount that is allotted to psychological services. As someone with major depressive disorder and general anxiety disorder, I’ve been going to varying forms of therapy, counseling and psychiatric care for the last 7 years. It seemed wasteful, and neglectful, not to use the last few weeks to get in a mental health tune-up. I take my car for regular oil changes so I should certainly perform some preventative maintenance on my psyche.

An overstuffed chair threatened to envelope me in its cozy embrace as I relayed my latest struggles and triumphs to my therapist, a lovely lady by the name of Barb. As we chatted, I sheepishly realized that I had not seen her since spring of 2018, not the more recent spring that we had both thought it was. It was interesting to play catch-up and to look at the past year from a wide angle lens to try and see the whole picture. 2019 sucked but it could have been worse. For every crushing downfall, there were lessons learned and new strengths uncovered. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to hoping that 2020 will be a more lenient taskmistress but I know that I am up for the challenges that are ahead.