I have a confession to make: Therapy is not for me. I have tried multiple times and just never understood the appeal – perhaps I did not stick it out long enough, or maybe it just was not helpful to me.
I don’t wish to write a smear piece on therapy or therapists, but I do have a genuine question, namely, will therapy endure? It may, but only if people continue to turn a blind eye to the problems that plague the industry.
The first and most obvious problem is cost. Honestly, I’m jaded, but even if therapy persists hundreds of years from now, there must be an effort to reduce its exorbitant costs.
I get it. Therapists have to pay rent for their buildings, pay receptionists, continue to get certifications, and more. It’s not cheap to run any business in America. But it seems there must inevitably be some kind of sacrifice from therapists in order to make their services more affordable for the average client.
Another problem with the therapy industry is the lack of connection in the practice. Yes, it’s true that confidentiality is king in therapy – there is a reason people go! Many people lack a trustworthy support system and talk to a therapist so they won’t be failed or betrayed by another person, whether a family member, friend or enemy. “After all,” they reason, “why would I want to risk telling people (even good people) the worst things about me? People already make stuff up about me that is untrue or hold things against me from years ago! It seems too risky.” Better to pay a therapist to listen to all our dirty laundry and have full assurance that what has been said will stay in that room, many conclude.
But while therapy provides the confidentiality we all crave, it does not provide the connection that comes with real relationships and friendships. Of course, you can enjoy the company of your therapist, but only during sessions. Privacy laws and desire from therapists to disconnect work from home also disallow robust personal connection.
Therapeutic relationships can also create an unhealthy dependency between client and patient. Good therapists will tell clients that they should be in therapy for a short time to learn how to live life more effectively, but bad therapists can take advantage of their client’s need for connection, seeing them for years on end, which ends up slowing the maturity process for the client.
This is especially true for children who see therapists. Abigail Shrier, author of “Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up,” points this out, noting, “As therapeutic points of view and practice gain general acceptance, more and more people find themselves disqualified, in effect, from the performance of adult responsibilities and become dependent on some form of medical authority.”
Related to this is the problem that therapy promotes an increased awareness of feelings. These feelings, in turn, can lead to a lack of action from clients. “If you want to, let’s say, climb a mountain, if you start asking yourself after two steps, ‘How do I feel?’ you’ll stay at the bottom,” Shrier explains. In my experience, letting my feelings determine the course of my life has never turned out good. Why? Because my feelings are misleading and negative and need to be combatted with truth.
Yes, some may find that truth from therapy sessions. But more often than not, does therapy actually let us hide from being confronted with the real Truth? I would say yes, and therein lies one of the biggest problems of therapy.
The truth is, God knows us – far better than any therapist ever will. Not only does He know us, He also loves us, despite our flaws. Nothing is hidden from Him.
So why do we live like it is? Why do we pay someone a quarter of our weekly earnings to tell him or her our problems when we have access to the Almighty? Remember, all that is His is yours in Jesus the Messiah. Along with God Himself, to whom you can tell all your troubles, you also have the body of Christ to lean upon for support. No, the body of Christ is not perfect, but it is being perfected, slowly but surely, so be brave! Be willing to be hurt.
But remember: Jesus will never hurt you. He will keep your sacred secrets confidential, while encouraging you to confess to your brothers and sisters in Christ and be healed.
Guess what? Everything is free of charge too. No sliding scale necessary.
Joshua Butler is from Vestavia Hills, Ala., and graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.S. in Addiction and Recovery Studies. He has a wide range of writing interests including theology, philosophy, policy and sports. To contact Josh, please email [email protected].
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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