Thereapy has been of little or no help to me. Yesterday I was talking to a friend and we got onto the subject of 'therapy'. He told me about his friend, I'll call her Beth. Beth IS a therapist herself and has been in therapy for over 20 years. The fact that Beth has been in therapy for a long time it so big deal since, at least here in the states, licensed therapists are required to get a certain amount of therapy for 'themselves' in order to stay licensed (side note: this seems like a good idea if for no other reason that then they can understand themselves the crap others of us 'in therapy' have to endure!)
Anyway, this therapist - Beth - who has been in therapy has become 'chronically depressed' and therapy has not been working so she is now going to ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy). For those unfamiliar with this therapy, it is generally only used as a last resort to 'essentially' electrically stimulate the brain to pull the person out of depression.
Happily for Beth, the ECT seems to be working, but one of her big dilemmas is 'how she can continue to work in a field that has not worked for her'.
I'm not saying that therapy isn't helpful for a lot of people. It's just that it gets to be like a 'blanket approach'. And, when it's not working, at least in my experience, the blame is on the patient. I can just hear my fat ass, bitch of a mother (who, incidentally, has been like a CANCER in our family and would NEVER go to therapy herself!). She says, "Well, if the therapy isn't working, you must not really want to change." Ugh, thinking about this woman makes me want to CTB right now!
Anyway, I really wish Therapy had worked for me. The fact is, it hasn't. At least it hasn't been able to transform me into the 'nice, conforming, happy' individual my mother always wanted and, generally, is rewarded with approval from society. I hope it works for someone.
