David Teachout

Whether professionally as a therapist/counselor or personally as one among many taking life one day at a time, the issue of health, particularly mental health, is often front and center, or at least a persistent, just below the surface, consideration. Unfortunately we often look at health, even mental health, through only one lens, with the physical or social or emotional taking center-stage.

Change is difficult, at least so says common wisdom and the refrain of most anyone faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. From learning a new skill and changing careers, to losing weight, change is that curious process that feels difficult at the beginning and seems to collapse under its own impetus when completed.

I was once challenged to view life as a constant upward trajectory, the line continuing to go higher and higher without fail. This thinking was recently thrown at me from a place of joy and compassion and I had the same initial response I did back then, “are you freaking kidding me?!”

“I want to help people” is an easy answer when asked about pursuing a career in counseling, but masks an underlying uncertainty as to what is in store for that journey. It’s often accompanied by some fairy-tale vision of deep conversations with clients, plumbing the depths of the human psyche and through the sheer power of active listening and providing a safe space, revelations will occur with immediately powerful behavioral changes.