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Seeking help

Gardener101

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Hello guys,

I am one of those people who others regularly describe as 'stoic', and to a certain extent it is true, but I am at the point in my life where I feel I have been held back for too long due to problems that I have failed to resolve.

I am struggling to seek help. I want to seek help.


Right now, I am waiting for an appointment with a psychotherapist in hopes of starting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

Has anyone done this?

Also, can you please pray for me? Please pray that my current openness and willingness to seek help remains strong and that I do not withdraw back into my shell.

Thank you and God bless you.



:crosseo:
 

Gardener101

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A psychotherapist will be a big help.
The lord will send help to u as long as u keep seeking. and Let God wake up who u r deep down, heal the deep core.

Thank you so much. :crossrc:

I haven't done it, but I'm pondering seeking some help for a few problems of my own. Praying for you.

Thank you. I said a prayer for your problems. May the Lord strengthen you. Amen :amen:


Thank you so much.


I will be praying for you :prayer:

Thanks and God bless you.
 
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DocThomas

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Therapy can really help, you will need to work very hard and be open and honest with the psychotherapist. It's a difficult path, but a very rewarding one. Also, if you feel uncomfortable with your therapist, you should get a new one you can be comfortable with.

P.S. I am praying for you.
 
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AWorkInProgress

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Hello guys,

I am one of those people who others regularly describe as 'stoic', and to a certain extent it is true, but I am at the point in my life where I feel I have been held back for too long due to problems that I have failed to resolve.

I am struggling to seek help. I want to seek help.


Right now, I am waiting for an appointment with a psychotherapist in hopes of starting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

Has anyone done this?

Also, can you please pray for me? Please pray that my current openness and willingness to seek help remains strong and that I do not withdraw back into my shell.

Thank you and God bless you.



:crosseo:
Hey friend! My mending angel =)

I don't know your story in full, so I will just share what I learned. It will be a door for you to try if you choose so.

In my own self recovery, I learned in the beginning the process of true problem solving.

2 chronicles 7:14
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Humility in greek means "To say what God says". Praying and seeking the Face of God is asking for help and understanding better the one who made us. Then turning that knowledge into wisdom or "turn from their wicked ways". Which a change of heart is about, free ourselves from being slaves to our sins.

Second door is really building that relationship with the heavenly father. Reading the scripture and understanding his love. From proverbs, Genesis, Genesis 18, Jeremiah, and so forth. So learn that he truly is a loving father or loving God.

Third door is learning who I am and what plan (dream) that he placed in my heart. Learning how to learn and seek after things that inspire me. Realize the truth, that I am a talented and creative individual. That we all are.

Fourth door is learning about love and fear. Really learning what true love is and it's many forms of being express. Learn that fear is a wall maker. It can be used to put someone on the right path, but ultimately true healing comes from love. Also remember fear creates walls, where love smash them down. Fear burns bridges, love repairs and builds new ones.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Which would explain why Jesus said that 2 greatest commandments were based on one concept. Love.

Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Last door is learning the flow of creativity, flow of life within our souls. Things I feared the most, are accually peices of my soul. From being infront of other people talking, to expressing myself, to sharing what I have a passion for. "Creativity is medicine." "Art is therapeutic, not therapy" by Julia Cameron.

Just like blood flow in the body, our creative energies flow. Sometimes they get stuck on a "When?" "What?" "How?" "Why?". Like the positive energies get dammed up and we are sapped of our strength. Creates the weaknesses and desires of external joys to escape the misery. Learn how to get unstuck, and keep the creativity flowing. Being creative and following our passions is doing God's work. For they will be services and products dripping with love. Also these creative ideas and things we do will come from our hands, boosting our self esteem for it is internal joy.
 
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restore

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Last door is learning the flow of creativity, flow of life within our souls.

] internal joy.


The flow of creativity needs more guidance and education, too?
I have tried art therapy for a while( visionary art etc), but recently I feel not much use anymore.
I feel I need some higher deeper level things now.Not sure where to find yet. Maybe go to library :)


 
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AWorkInProgress

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The flow of creativity needs more guidance and education, too?
I have tried art therapy for a while( visionary art etc), but recently I feel not much use anymore.
I feel I need some higher deeper level things now.Not sure where to find yet. Maybe go to library :)
Funny you mention that. I wanted to become an art therapist until I realized what you just stated. They broken the realm of creativity into different types of therapies; music, dance, art, drama, and inscape.

That didn't make sense specially if someone didn't know if they were creative. The act of creativity in any area or what a person is drawn to IS therapeutic. After that is established, the process of learning how to get over "creative blocks" and show how to just make art, not "Making it".

Give up on being an art therapist and going to teach Julia Cameron's teachings in church ministries or something to that effect.

Everyone is gifted and talented, but if they don't allow themselves to;
A. Show up to the paper, clay, stage, insturment
B. Get the drama out of the way and let it flow.

Then they will never know or regret what God may have placed in their hearts. Or never realize the potiential of their dreams.

As I told Debra last night. Things we fear the most are most likely peices of our soul that need to be claimed. Or who we are meant to be.

EDIT Throw this in as well. Since I'm such the crowd pleaser! :D

http://mythoughts-james.blogspot.com/

How can I love my neighbor if I can't love myself?


From an email to Debra:

Ever just get that feeling you wished someone really cared for you? Even though surrounded by people that do love you... still feel it is never enough. Even God's great love just doesn't do it either?

Trying to get my arms around this problem. It doesn't make sense, I am loved by God and friends/family around me. Yet I feel like your the only one that can fill the void within. That doesn't seem right thou... like defeats the purpose of growing socially and sounds like defination of loneliness. I have all this love energy to give people, but I wish they give it back just as strong as I pour it out. Started thinking why can't I pour some of my own powerful love on myself. BINGO!

Just as we were talking last night, we already knew the answer. Reason we are so starved for love, cause we deprive ourselves of our own love. I asked myself how do I define myself. "James is boring" and bam! My personality type, I am afraid of bordum and seek out new things/experiences.

I am talented
I am a loving man of God
I am an awesome boyfriend and future husband
I care about others and have awesome gifts to help others with.
I am amazing!

I will be reminding myself this from here on out and accepting it. I need to stop self inflicting my own emotional scar and allow myself to heal. World trembles as it waits for me to be creative!! :D

Also some great websites on how we learn. Hopefully it can help you focus your energies. I found these to be greatly insightful. Enjoy!

4Mat System: Learning styles Another description of the system

VARK/or Carl Jungs Theory of how we make decissions.
 
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AWorkInProgress

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http://devtalent.blogspot.com/2007/04/judy-and-hilary-swank-on-courage.html

"I did not come to this conclusion on my own. I gained this knowledge by watching my daughter. The most revealing thing I discovered was how much courage Hilary has. Some times when the door of opportunity opens, we spend too much time deliberating on whether to go through the door or not, all the while the door is slowly closing.

"Hilary's youth and complete exuberance for what she'd chosen in life allowed her to be unafraid to take the risks involved in pursuing her dream... She followed her instincts. I had learned to believe in them. I completely believed in her."
...

...She has also commented on trying to achieve your goals: "As in life, your mind can be the hugest obstacle or tool, depending on how you choose to use it. And I find that a lot of people who are successful in life say, 'I can do this, and I will do this.' Their minds don't get in their way; whereas people who wake up and say, 'Oh, I can't,' their mind is in their way, and it's going to stop them from doing what they need to do to achieve their dream."

http://devtalent.blogspot.com/2006/09/creativity-takes-time-risk-love-and.html

Q. What advice can you give us nongeniuses to help us be more creative?

A. Take risks, and expect to make lots of mistakes, because creativity is a numbers game. Work hard, and take frequent breaks, but stay with it over time. Do what you love, because creative breakthroughs take years of hard work. Develop a network of colleagues, and schedule time for freewheeling, unstructured discussions.

Most of all, forget those romantic myths that creativity is all about being artsy and gifted and not about hard work. They discourage us because we're waiting for that one full-blown moment of inspiration. And while we're waiting, we may never start working on what we might someday create.

I disagree little on first part. Does take hard work to make break throughs, but the time they happen is pretty random. I had many breakthroughs, some only a few moments to others taking months.

Also on hard work, some parts of doing what one loves is hard work. Rest of the time it is a joy to do.

Lastly his is right, risk is key. Even all the great artists and big names made many...many misrible mistakes in their beginning. Thankfully they were stubborn and kept making their art and loving it. So they become as good as they are. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

"There are no mistakes." -Miles Davis
 
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madison1101

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I have been in CBT for a long time for a personality disorder. I have an excellent, skilled psychologist who is so insightful and has helped me more than I ever could have imagined. I have a Christian friend who prays for him weekly, and God has answered her prayers mightily.

In my CBT, I am often given homework, which is part of the plan. In therapy, my therapist asks me what my thinking is concerning a certain problem or behavior. He then challenges my thinking, if it is self-defeating, or unhealthy. He also guides me in changing the negative, self-defeating behaviors that may be a result of my thinking. It demands total honesty about my behaviors as well as my thinking. It took time for me to trust him and to learn about myself. But the rewards are worth it.

I pray that your experience is a blessing as mine has been.

Trish
 
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