The Best Advice My Therapist Ever Told Me
If you don’t ask for what you need, the answer is always no. – Michelle It’s ok to be a crying emotional pile of goo. – Aimee Logic can’t be used to explain or replace something that wasn’t put there with logic to begin with. – Chrissy. Be gentle with yourself. – Lia It’s okay to grieve a loss you are actively choosing. It’s still a loss. – Chelsea No feeling is final. – Danielle Don’t rush through your feelings of sadness, grief, or anger. Take your time, and find a healthy way to cope when needed, but don’t try to skip through it. Be ready to move to the other side of it when the time comes, but don’t let anyone else convince you that you should be “over it by now”. – Dina As you can, remember to be flexible with yourself. We do not always feel strong, even when we are being strong; and strength can present itself in many different ways. – Alison
BY JEN OLENICZAK BROWN
One of my favorite things to do in conversations with friends when they are going through it? Quote my therapist. I joke that I owe her so much – but truly, having that third party to your life is incredible. We reached out to women across Forsyth County to see what was the best thing their therapists said. Enjoy, take what you need and pass along what your friends and family need! Not everything is about you. – Wren It’s ok that I don’t do things like “everyone else” (meaning neurotypical people) and that I should never apologize for asking for changes or adjustments that help me function and live better. – Jess The version of me that someone else created in their mind is not my responsibility. – Annie Anxiety isn’t intuition. – Sarah
You will not be a victim for the rest of your life. – Jasmine You cannot be empowered and a victim. – MariPat You can’t have a rational conversation with an irrational person. – Terri No is a complete sentence. – Tamara. Other people may not like you because they see traits of themselves they don’t like within them. – Katie You don’t need to treat everything as if it’s a life or death situation. – Annie
There are two kinds of people. Givers and takers. Givers need takers and takers need givers. But givers and takers that don’t learn to set and maintain boundaries are when relationships get unhealthy. – Gloria Take care of yourself. Even when you don’t want to. Even when you don’t feel like you deserve to. You do. And it is so worth it. – Ali Empathy without boundaries is self-destruction. – Mary Feelings aren’t facts. – Kathryn Listen to your body. – Carla You can only control your actions and reactions; you can’t control others. So let’s work on you. – Mari Kris Don’t you ever let anyone speak for you! – Miranda To be successful at anything in life, I must take care of me first. – Elizabeth Just because it ended, doesn’t mean it can’t begin again. – Sarah It wasn’t your fault, and “fixing it” isn’t your only purpose for existence. – Heather Your problems follow you wherever you go, but where you are may change the way you process them. – Jennifer Stop “shoulding” on yourself. – Pam One decision at a time. – Aileen You’ve gotten through 100% of the things that have happened to you. Why worry about what might happen when you’ve always been able to figure it out before. – Jessica Own your power. – Cassey Feel your feelings. – Kate
And from Stephanie Adrian, LCSW, Fulcrum Counseling: My favorite piece of advice is “sometimes self-care is about deciding what you won’t do.” Whether it’s saying no to a stressful family event, or deciding to go out to eat instead of cooking, or maybe putting aside that work you need to do in order to have fun with friends. I got really tired of people telling me to take bubble baths; I hate bubble baths. I feel like a lot of women especially feel like they need to say yes to everything. We load up our plates and then struggle to carry them. Sometimes you just have to take something off your plate.
74 | ForsythWoman.com
