Let’s do a quick activity.
Get out a piece of paper and a pen.
If you don’t have one, that’s okay.
You’ll just have to some take mental notes.
All set?
Okay.
Imagine the kind of person
who goes to see a therapist.
Picture them in your head.
You have fifteen seconds.
List as many words as possible
to describe that person.
Are you ready?
Go.
Good work!
All right, now.
Let's go over your words.
What’s the overall feel?
If I had to guess,
I would imagine that they're
actually, generally negative.
Maybe it includes words like
crazy, unstable, weak, lazy,
mentally ill, broken.
You might have some situational terms like
divorced, addict, crying, on meds,
forced to go, rich, or suicidal.
And if you had any words to describe
some sort of physical feature,
more than likely you had female.
These are...stereotypes.
And harmful ones at that.
It prevents a lot of people
from pursuing therapy.
There are people whose situations seem to
require professional help.
But they just don’t seek it
because of this stigma.
And it also prevents average folk like
you and me from even considering it.
Now, you might be saying to yourself,
“I don’t need therapy!
I am a functioning human being
with a decent life.
Everything is just dandy.”
You wouldn’t even know what to talk about, right?
Right?
Well, I’m going to put my full-hearted opinion
out there and say that I think that
every single person
could benefit from therapy.
Every single person!
That might seem a little extreme to you,
but let me explain.
How’s your health?
What do you do to take care of it?
Would you say that being in shape
or having good physical health is important?
Of course!
We all know that when we exercise or eat well
or see the doctor for regular visits,
the better off we'll be.
Everyone has a physical health status.
If we wanted to, we could probably rate people
on a scale from “healthy” to “unhealthy”.
And a person’s ranking would change
depending on genetics and their environment.
People with higher, or better, physical health
would likely go to the gym and do other things
to take care of their bodies.
If you get really sick or break a bone,
then your physical health status
goes way down.
And that’s probably when you go to the hospital.
Generally, we want to stay on the higher end
and we change our behavior and habits
in order to achieve that.
I want to be healthier, so I work out.
In the same way, everyone has mental health.
And a mental health status.
You have a mental health status,
I have a mental health status,
your sister's girlfriend's uncle
has a mental health status.
And just like physical health,
depending on your genetics and environment,
your mental health will change.
Did you have a bad day?
That’ll negatively affect your mental health.
But, did your roommate make you feel better
by doing all the dishes and
cleaning the apartment?
That’ll improve your mental health.
So often we think of mental health in
all-or-nothing terms.
Good or bad, rather than as a gradient.
And that’s part of the problem.
Somewhere along the line, we got the impression
that going to see a therapist was like
going to the hospital.
When really, it’s more like
going to the gym.
Seeing someone doesn’t mean you’re crazy
or have a mental illness
or that something's even wrong with you.
It means you want to better yourself and
have a happier, more successful life.
By working with a professional,
we're able to exercise our
mental and emotional muscles.
And make us stronger in the future.
It’s like having a personal trainer.
For your brain.
And just like physical health professionals,
mental health professionals have a lot of
specialties, too.
Whether it’s sports psychology or
marriage and family therapy
or career counseling.
89% of Americans think that
mental health is just as important as
physical health.
But we definitely don’t treat it the same.
Only about 10% of Americans
have had any sort of therapy
in the last two years.
Compare that to approximately 50% of Americans
who report exercising at least 3 days a week!
So here's my plea to any of you watching:
Get a therapist.
It could be a psychologist or a counselor
or a social worker. Doesn’t matter.
You don’t have to see them every week,
but I want you to try it.
Work out your mind and
see what it does for you.
All people can benefit from therapy.
It’s the smart people that finally go.
Now, I need to make a bit of a confession.
I’m being a bit of a hypocrite because
I actually don’t have a therapist.
In fact, I haven’t seen anyone formally
since I was a kid, about
10 or 11 years old.
And yeah, helping people might be my job,
but mental health professionals do not
have perfect lives and
I'm no better than any of you.
So today, I’m gonna set up an appointment.
Okay.
I have insurance and I have my card.
So I'm going to go to the website that's on there,
because they actually show
all of the professionals that are
covered under my insurance plan.
Well, let's call and give it a try.
(ringing)
Thank you for calling.
Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.
We are closed weekends and holidays.
How was your day?
Good!
What'chya looking at?
Therapy?
Trying to find a therapist.
I don't think that my insurance website
gives me all of the options
because it's only showing, like, hospitals.
It doesn't have a complete list.
So, I want to call and just see if people
accept my insurance.
Well what do you know.
So you can actually look at
therapists on Yelp.
And see their ratings or whatever.
This person's pretty close.
Close to home!
All right.
Hello?
Hi, yes, I'm calling because
I am potentially a new client and I'm
just calling to get some information and
see about possibly setting up a
new appointment.
Okay, sure.
Is this for you, or...?
Yeah, for me.
Did you want to ask me any questions
or tell me a little bit about
what you're looking for?
I guess, well, first and probably most importantly,
I'm wondering if you accept my insurance.
What is your insurance?
(bleeped out)
Yes, I do.
Excellent.
Wonderful.
So did you want me to look at my next available appointment?
Sure, that'd be great!
Okay.
Let's do Monday.
Monday?
Yeah, Monday's probably best.
5:15 works?
Yeah!
Okay, great.
I will put you down for that.
Okay, all right, sounds good Micah.
Thanks so much.
Take care.
You're very welcome.
Have a good weekend.
You too.
Okay, thanks.
Bye.
All right!
Well, done!
That was actually easier than I thought!
If you, too, would like to set up your
first appointment of therapy,
feel free to check out
the links down in the description.
I'm going to put some links down there on
how-to set up your first appointment,
as well as a few links to some search engines
where you can find therapists in your area.
I always recommend starting with your
insurance company, but then you can always
expand beyond that because they don't always
list everybody.
I'm pretty excited!
I'm looking forward to my first appointment.
Until next time, I'm Micah.
Think about it.