Larry called to say, “I will not be returning to counseling,” Upon questioning Larry gave the following reasons for stopping his therapy. His story may surprise you.
Larry was a man in his 50’s, strong, masculine and definitely not a man who talked about his “feelings.” He has been injured on the job and had suffered some major injuries leaving him on disability. He was able to work on a part time basis and the income was much needed.
He regularly saw his psychiatrist who prescribed medications for depression and anxiety. On his last visit Larry was told that his psychiatrist could no longer write reports to validate his ongoing disability unless Larry also talked with a therapist on a regular basis. This was something that Larry did not want to do.
After a few weeks Larry made the call and scheduled his first counseling session. He presented with a defensive posture, guarded speech and poor eye contact. He stated at the very beginning, “I am only here because my doctor told me I had to, I do not believe in counseling and do not plan to talk about any of my personal business. We can talk about religion, politics and the weather and that’s all.”
So that’s exactly what we did. Until one day Larry began to share a tiny bit of information about his childhood. As time went on Larry began to share more and more. He watched a series on TV presented by a well known therapist and lecturer and shared how much he was learning and how he was making changes. Larry was no longer guarded or defensive and was eager and motivated to learn more about himself.
After about 6 months of weekly counseling, Larry called and said, “I need to cancel my next counseling session and I won’t be coming back. I have been thinking about how much I have learned about myself and how I really have made some changes. But I realize that I can’t get any healthier and fit into the workplace. The healthier I get; it makes it more difficult for me to tolerate stupidity, laziness and incompetency. I seem to notice it more now and it makes me angry that people get away with their dysfunctional behavior at work. Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one that sees https://winters.com/klonopin-2mg/.
So for now I am going to be a “healthier “ me and try to blend into the work place and learn how to let it go after I leave. I just realized that if I get too healthy I don’t think I can tolerate what I see and hear.
