Alternatives to getting psychological help
We live in a fast moving society. Life keeps most of us zipping along at a pace that is far beyond our ability to cope with. The society we live in supports the belief that we have to do whatever it takes to keep up with “life”.
This incessant need to keep up “by whatever means” has caused the industry of counseling to overflow its seams. Thousands of people are spending small fortunes for treatment that may be either unnecessary or ineffective.
In my experience (which is plenty) with counselors, I have found the favorite treatments are either assisting the client to cope better with what ever is occurring in their life at the time that has caused them to choose to seek help or writing a prescription to subdue the symptoms. How effective is either of these answers?
Admittedly, in some cases one of these remedies may be the right answer for that situation. However, they are generally situational coping strategies. I would like to offer you a strategy that is more effective with a much longer term benefit that may well eliminate the need for either.
It is: Quit living the way you are!
There is a belief that is quite prevalent in our society that leaves us believing that we are hard-wired into the life style we are currently living. It is not true!
We do not have to “keep up with the Jones”. We do not have to accept the trauma and strife that keeps presenting itself in our lives. We do not have to keep interacting with the people who are part of the environment that has us running to shell out the big bucks to “regain our sanity”.
The biggest downfall I find with the rules of engagement in this society is that no one tells us about the small writing at the bottom of the contract that says: “You are not obligated to play this game”.
We learned to play the game of life by watching and interacting with the people who formed our environment as a child. Our two favorite games were “copycat” and “Let’s see how far we can push the boundaries”. The prize for our playing is the package of beliefs we hold true in our subconscious that color our perception of life.
Again, most people never read the fine print at the bottom of the page. There is no requirement that we have to play the game. We can stop and change the rules any time we want. All we have to do is become aware of the rules and the fact that we can change them.
The human mind is a brilliant piece of work. We were created to evolve on a continuous basis. We have to be conscious of how we do our life in order to truly grow. In that consciousness, we have to be willing to accept that we are not “perfect” and that some changes may be necessary. We must recognize the aspects of our lives that we do well and embrace them while we open our minds to the insights that show us the “darker side” of ourselves and be okay with them.
Once we make peace with ourselves and our humanness, we can embrace our shadow side and allow our awareness to grow so that we can literally see where the opportunity to create freedom lies from within our own psyche. The problems of the outer world are so, so often an illusion that our mind uses to keep us away from the great knowledge within of who we truly are so that it can maintain its customary power. The only true path to a healthy mind is to get past the grip of the ego in fear mode and let yourself be who you were created as.
Inside the dark side is the knowledge that sets us free. However, as long as we keep trying to manage and cope with our relationship to the external world through the ego, we will never get to the point of truly being able to deal with our personal issues that promote the desire to seek counseling.
I believe that the alternative to psychological help is taking the time before any crises set in to know yourself and ground yourself in your own self knowledge. Once you develop this skill, you may still choose to seek assistance but not for the purpose of coping with life but rather for the purpose of advancing yourself to a higher level of self love. As it stated over the door of the entry to the portal at Delphi: Know Yourself.
