Counseling Addiction – Those were the words in the title of an email I just received. I didn’t read on, I didn’t have to. I get the gist and I’m shocked.
It’s never dawned on me that this would be an issue, but why the f@ck not? I mean, tons of people love counseling – I’m one of them. Though I haven’t found the time to go recently, which means I’m probably not an addict, per se.
But, I do get it.
In fact, as a double major – one of them being psychology – I found that many people in my classes were taking these courses in hopes of fixing themselves.
Well, we know that never works. If it did, no one would say, “you should take your own advice,” in that snarky way that they do.
Needless to say, I spent much time in college and Grad school with people who were anxiety stricken, or OCD (like myself) or narcissists, or bipolar, or… had other fun complexes. Then they become practicing therapists and now spend a lot of time telling other people what to do and what’s wrong with them.
How rude.
If you went around dissecting my psyche and telling me how to fix it, I would not make plans with you… often. But, we pay for therapists to tell us such things. Then we respond with phrases like: “Yessss, that’s why I’m so controlling” and “oh my G-d you’re so right, I do substitute food for love,” and “sure, sure my passive aggressive behavior is obviously an outlet for my suppressed emotional responses,” and other shit we say in therapists offices in hopes of feeling less inferior.
But, now that there’s a new disorder coming from over-therapizing, I say we get off the proverbial couch and take a stand. I mean people don’t get paid to tell you things that may happen to you in the future, do they? Of course not. So, why should we pay people to label us now?
Frankly, I think we’re all doing pretty good, considering… The O-Zone is disintegrating, American’s throw away 250 million tons of trash/year, the unemployment rate is 8.6%, we’re all getting older and wrinklier and less bendy by the second, and the shoes in my closet never seem to be perfectly straight!
So, “Say Nay to Thera-pay!” I know, catchy right? I’m like the Norma Rae of head shrinking. Screw Jung and Freud and Adler, who needs ’em and their theories? The 54 million American’s who suffer from mental illness in a given year? Nah.
Addendum to this post: I just clicked the email with the Title: Counseling Addiction The subject line said this: Help fight substance abuse as a counselor.
Never mind.
