A Treehouse for Adults
The idea of therapy can be a bit daunting. However, seeking therapy doesn’t mean that you’re weak, crazy, without friends, unable to let go of the past, or anything major is wrong. You don’t need to be afflicted with a specific disorder or dealing with a life crisis to benefit from therapy. Therapy is for anyone! And while individuals working through bouts of anxiety, depression, addiction, etc., can find help in a therapy office, individuals or couples who simply have found that their quality of life isn’t what they want it to be might also get a lot from therapy.
Consider this: in childhood, most lay claim to a spot where they felt comfortable and safe. For me, my safe and comfortable place was a backyard treehouse. My own little hideaway where I could do anything I wanted - host a group of neighborhood kids and create audacious battle plans; simply read a book; enjoy a snack with my brother; or just sit and think. Even though life wasn’t necessarily the same outside of the treehouse, it provided a sort of sanctuary that I carried with me throughout the day and night.
Therapy, in its own way, is similar to that childhood treehouse. Therapy is a safe place where you can discuss your thoughts and feelings and really get to know yourself better. A therapist isn’t an all-knowing person who has all the answers and will offer guaranteed advice. No, a therapist is more of a facilitator. Someone who will listen and guide you through your journey toward greater self-awareness and emotional well-being.
Think of therapy as your own personal, adult treehouse. A safe haven for you to discuss what’s happening at work, difficulties with parents, dynamics in marriage, and issues that come up in important relationships. As clients process the meaningful content of their lives in an individual, marital, or group session, and explore the various feeling states that were present at the time of the event and are still present in the therapy session, they often find an increased clarity in who they are and what they want. Best of all, when you leave a therapy session, what you’ve learned stays with you and you can know that the process of getting there was confidential.
Seeking therapy is not a sign of weakness. It’s not even a sign of despair. Seeking therapy is a sign of wanting something to be different and a willingness to invite someone else along on the journey. A wellness check-up, or check-in rather, for your mental health. In fact, it’s actually best to go to therapy when you’re not in a crisis. You read that correctly. It is actually best to go to therapy when you’re not in a crisis. Of course, if you are in a crisis, therapy can help. However, seeking therapy when everything is “OK,” will hopefully mitigate the likelihood of a crisis occurring.
We may have grown-up, but we do not grow-out of our need for a calm and safe space to process our thoughts. What might have offered a safe haven as a child can be different from our needs as an adult. In childhood that sanctuary may have been a treehouse. In adulthood, a place many find refuge and support is the office of a therapist. Are you ready to know if an adult treehouse might help you get what you want from life?
Jeff Grossman offers adults and adolescents in Nashville & Brentwood, Tennessee a ‘treehouse’ experience via individual and group therapy sessions.