The Summer I Skipped Therapy

The Summer I Skipped Therapy

….And Instantly Regretted It
Just kidding!!
It actually was a big test of how sharp my mindfulness skills were.

A certain someone did me a solid by not getting into legal trouble this summer (unlike 2018 and 2023), which also helped.

But mainly it was mindfulness that got me through. And, of course, my support system of friends and family. And the meds. And being able to focus on sending out my book, Mindfulness Brings Clarity (yay!). The weeklong vacation at the beach, of course. If I don't have at least a week at the beach, my summer is ruined. Thankfully, that hasn't been the case for as long as I can remember.

I did not intentionally skip therapy the entire summer. It started because we had a change in our insurance in my family, and that caused life to life. And then life kept lifeing and before I knew it, school was starting again for my daughter, and I still hadn’t made a therapy appointment. Thankfully, I have all of the things I mentioned above, which help keep me balanced and sane. But it was weird looking back, to not have checked in with Jolyce (my therapist since 2019) about everything with my book launch, my family trips, parenting stuff, and trauma-related flashbacks.

I credit couples therapy with helping me be more comfortable opening up to my husband. He still has to pry a lot out of me, but I’m much more willing and comfortable to share my feelings and thoughts than I was before we started couples therapy. Previously, I would shut down and internalize everything, maybe letting it out later at an inappropriate time, maybe not at all. Now, even if I can't verbalize initially, my husband can read the signs, proceed with his prying techniques, and we get to a common ground. Shout out to Park Wellness in Severna Park, Maryland.

I also credit having done almost a year of EMDR. Unless you’ve done that intervention and found your own success with it, it’s hard to describe the magic of EMDR. It’s helped me not feel as much of a visceral reaction when I think about certain things from my past. That’s the goal of the intervention, to reprocess a traumatic memory so it doesn’t trigger you the same way. And I can honestly say it has worked for me. It allowed me to be more present than I have been in a long time. That feels incredibly feeing to me.

So while I didn’t mean to skip therapy for the entire summer, I feel okay about it. I’m going to get back into it of course. But I’m so happy that I had a way to test if all the other interventions had done their thing. It’s a testament to tackling things from as many sides as possible. Mindfulness truly does bring about clarity.