Captain Of The Ship
How Therapy Helped Me To Build My Survival Toolbox
I used to think therapy was a day at the spa, a good bottle of wine with a nice dinner and sometimes a little shopping helped too. Once I started working with an actual therapist however, I soon realized that those things can help escape the hard moments, but they are indeed not therapy.
I didn’t do actual therapy until June 2020, after my sister-in-law died very suddenly. Left behind were her two teenage daughters and her husband who really didn’t know life without her. I became captain of the family ship and had no effing idea how to navigate it. After searching online and reading reviews about therapists in my area, I came across a video of Diane and felt with every fibre of my being that she would be right for me. My first words to her were “I need to know how to keep this ship afloat because it is sinking fast, and I’m the only one who can take the wheel right now.”
In that first hour together, she assured me she would support in helping me build my toolbox. She told me our focus will start with how to empower people while protecting myself and that I have the ability to disable co-dependancy. This took a couple of years to fully accomplish, but I felt lighter that day just knowing there was a way to manage it all. Thank gawd for Diane.
I’ll use this space to share snippets of some of the most enlightening conversations I’ve had with her over the last few years. I look back and I know wholeheartedly and cognitively that a day at the spa or retail therapy wouldn’t have brought me to the bright spot I’m in today. Although the waters have been rough, we managed to steer the ship to safety and I will be eternally grateful for the survival toolbox she helped me create.
“An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship.” -Goi Nasu