Deserving the support you crave

"Nothing really bad has happened to me. Nobody’s died and I haven’t been abused" She said apologetically.

And yet the life she was living was filled with anxiety, fear and restriction. Somehow she felt she should be bringing a story with something more.

Whatever your reason for considering counselling, it’s enough.

If you are torn between wanting counselling and at the same time, feeling as though your problems do not justify it, you are not alone. On paper it may look as if you haven’t really got problems, at least only ‘normal’ ones. Yet you feel flat, miserable, anxious or stressed. Asking for help feels difficult. You think you don’t deserve it because you haven’t got obvious reasons to explain your feelings.

People are often apologetic for having come to counselling, for asking for support. The truth is, we are all deserving of time and space for ourselves and we are all deserving of kindness, compassion and support. Everyone faces a time in their life when they need to talk things through. When thinking things through on your own, it often results in nothing more than spinning wheels in the mud. Sometimes you have people in your life that you can talk to and sometimes, for a whole myriad of reasons, you don’t.

You too are deserving, whatever problem it is that you bring from the past or face in the present.  Sometimes you are so used to your struggle, that you doubt its significance. Sometimes you are so unused to seeking and receiving attention for support or help, that it’s hard to acknowledge your need.  Sometimes, feeling that you are worth it is just one leap beyond you.

In some ways it doesn’t matter what is happening on the outside of your life. What's most important is how you are experiencing life. What are you feeling like? Do you struggle to get out of bed in the morning to face the day? Do you sometimes feel so anxious about things that your heart races and you feel out of control? Do you find yourself welling up with tears when you’d really rather not be? Or do the smallest things propel you into a fiery temper? 

You are deserving of all the good things that life has to offer. Love, purpose, happiness, fulfillment, contentment and adventure. It’s all there for the taking but sometimes we cannot get there on our own, sometimes we need support. A helping hand on the journey can inspire, encourage and offer hope and guidance. It can make all the difference because you too deserve that support.