The Manic Episode: Ther­apy

Ther­apy can be a trans­for­ma­tive ex­pe­ri­ence for every­one, and as a col­lege stu­dent, I’ve come to re­al­ize how much it can im­prove not just my men­tal health but my over­all well-be­ing. This se­mes­ter, I fi­nally did it. I took the plunge and started go­ing to ther­apy. Let me tell you… it has been a jour­ney. 

Find­ing a ther­a­pist was­n’t easy. I had spe­cific pref­er­ences: some­one who ac­cepted my in­sur­ance, spe­cial­ized in bipo­lar dis­or­der, was­n’t faith-based, and (per­son­ally) was­n’t a man. It’s im­por­tant to pri­or­i­tize your com­fort when choos­ing a ther­a­pist. The en­vi­ron­ment needs to feel safe and sup­port­ive, so don’t hes­i­tate to stick to your pref­er­ence. Ther­apy is for you af­ter all.

At first, I ended up with a ther­a­pist who was… let’s just say not the right fit. She was in her 60s, and her of­fice felt like a prin­ci­pal’s of­fice. It has a big, in­tim­i­dat­ing wooden desk sep­a­rat­ing us. Dur­ing my first ses­sion, she sug­gested in­volv­ing my par­ents in ther­apy, even though she barely knew me. At least know my fa­vorite food be­fore ask­ing to meet the par­ents. That’s a red flag for you all to keep an eye out for. The more they push for those ses­sions the more the charges go up. Af­ter one ses­sion, I was ready to swear off ther­apy com­pletely.

Thank­fully, a friend, you’ve met her if you watched my OCD episode, rec­om­mended a more re­li­able source: Psy­chol­ogy To­day. Through their site, I found my cur­rent ther­a­pist, who’s been in­cred­i­ble. She checks all the boxes. She spe­cial­izes in my needs, of­fers hands-on ex­er­cises for my ADHD, and helps me nav­i­gate my panic at­tacks. One of the best tools she’s in­tro­duced me to is jour­nal­ing. Now this is­n’t The Vam­pire Di­aries, it’s not that cringe. It what­ever you want it to be as long as it’s an out­let for you to re­lease your emo­tions and thought. It’s been ther­a­peu­tic and reread­ing old en­tries has been hi­lar­i­ous. I can see my growth and my stu­pid­ity. 

For Maryville Uni­ver­sity stu­dents, ther­apy is even more ac­ces­si­ble. The uni­ver­sity of­fers coun­sel­ing ser­vices tai­lored to stu­dent needs. Tak­ing ad­van­tage of these re­sources can make a huge dif­fer­ence in man­ag­ing the stresses of col­lege life. 

It’s also cru­cial to re­mem­ber that ther­apy is noth­ing to be ashamed of. We’re in 2024, al­most 2025, and its time to leave be­hind out­dated stig­mas about men­tal health. ther­apy is­n’t a sign of weak­ness, it’s an in­vest­ment in your­self. Pri­or­i­tiz­ing your men­tal health is one of the most em­pow­er­ing things you can do.

So, if you’re con­sid­er­ing ther­apy, my ad­vice is sim­ple: GO FOR IT! Find a ther­a­pist who aligns with your needs, and don’t set­tle for any­thing less. ther­apy has helped me grow, un­der­stand my­self bet­ter, and con­fi­dently nav­i­gate life. It can do the same for you. 

Here is a link to use those Maryville con­nec­tions for your chance at coun­sel­ing and ther­apy:Maryville Coun­sel­ing