00:00Do you want to feel less stressed out? Do you want to regain some emotional
00:02balance? Do you want to have better relationships with your peers and with
00:05yourself? These are all things that can be improved through counseling. Hi, I'm
00:09Patricia and I specialize in psychotherapy for young adults, adolescents
00:13and teens. I focus primarily on issues of anxiety, stress-related disorders and
00:18depression. There's absolutely no shame in going to therapy. In fact, I've been in
00:22therapy since I was eight years old and I know I'm not alone. I go to therapy. I
00:26go to therapy. I go to therapy. I go to therapy. I've never been to therapy but I
00:32kind of want to go. African-Americans and Hispanic Americans use mental health
00:35services at one-half the rate of Caucasian Americans. I'm still on the fence and I've
00:39always wondered do you only seek therapy if you've endured a trauma and I don't
00:44necessarily have any of those things so I'm wondering if a therapist is the
00:49right avenue for me. There's this common misconception that you have to have a
00:52disorder or a mental illness to go see a therapist. That's not true at all. Plenty
00:59of people just want unbiased, unfiltered advice from a professional. I go to therapy
01:03because it's the perfect time for me to really dive into what's going on in my
01:10mind and just having kind of that neutral party that I'm able to talk to every
01:15other week. For me the best thing about therapy has just been the relationship.
01:18I really trust her and like being able to trust somebody who I see once a week has
01:23just been incredible for me. I've had really bad anxiety and OCD since I was
01:28like four or five. I have pretty frequent anxiety, take medication for it. The good
01:33news about anxiety is that it is highly treatable. Getting a diagnosis of
01:37something is really important because you can think that you have something or you
01:41can self-medicate or self-prescribe. It didn't feel real until someone told me. I've worried if I
01:47have anxiety but I've been told that I'm just a bit neurotic and that it's just a
01:52symptom of being a well-bred Jew. Many people that I work with have had
01:55complicated or difficult childhoods and they want to rehash kind of the family
01:59dynamics so they can move forward in in their life and you know kind of start new.
02:04I remember being in a session with a therapist I was seeing back when I lived at
02:09home where she said you can't pick your parents and that was probably one of the
02:14dopest things anyone has ever said let alone a therapist. I always felt kind of
02:18like the black sheep and my therapist basically made me realize that just
02:21because you don't have the same relationship with your family that your
02:24friend might have with hers doesn't mean that you're in any way flawed. I think
02:29that many people still believe the only people that go to therapy are people
02:33that are like crazy and that are potentially institutionalized when the
02:37truth is the bulk of people that really do seek out treatment are high
02:40functioning young adults. I think it's one of those things that if you're like oh
02:44well I'm going to therapy people are like oh shoot like something's wrong with
02:48Katie like oh she must be going crazy. You truly don't have to have a
02:52psychiatric disorder to get help. It's really not a big deal at all you're just
02:57sitting down with someone and you're just talking about X Y & Z like hey this is
03:02what happened this week at work this is what's been bothering me. When say I first
03:05started practicing say 20 years ago I would have clients I would only come on
03:09Saturday because they didn't want anybody to see them walking into the
03:12office. Nowadays middle schoolers teenagers they'll come to me and they'll
03:16say well my my friend's therapist says this what do you think you know so it's
03:20becoming less of a stigma. I'm radically open about going to therapy. Oh I talk
03:24about it all the time. I begin every sentence with my therapist says not
03:28something that I'm ashamed of and it's definitely not something I hide. Finding
03:31the right therapist can be a process sometimes so don't give up if you don't
03:34like your first therapist that you visit. Find someone that you connect with and that
03:37you feel comfortable being honest with. If you're not feeling helped or
03:41supported seek help elsewhere. The therapist I saw in high school actually I
03:45think that she was violating her professional ethics. She was a friend of
03:48my mom's so she was on my mom's side with everything like I would complain
03:53about something my mom would do and she'd be like no I know your mom she would
03:55never do something like that. Like really just not helpful and I definitely
03:59support trying to see a therapist who works for you. If you are interested and
04:03want to go to therapy I would say talk to a parent or an adult that you trust. If
04:08you live far away and or don't have that kind of relationship with some of the
04:11adults in your life I would speak to your school counselor also I would speak
04:15to your primary care physician. If you need help there are people you can ask for
04:20it and you definitely shouldn't feel afraid to do that. What I love about being a
04:24therapist is that the world is filled with a lot of interesting people with
04:27wonderful stories and to be a part of helping someone to you know reach their
04:33dreams and potential is an absolute gift. Self-care is of the utmost importance
04:38so if you feel like you should go see a therapist then don't be afraid to speak
04:42out and seek help. See you next time.
