It’s not easy to open up. Many of us approach counseling, and reaching out for help in general, with ambivalence. We want to feel better and know that talking can help, but the act of expressing vulnerable feelings is uncomfortable. Right as we’re on the precipice of diving into raw emotion, we can get cold feet. There are many ways to avoid taking this plunge, but one that often presents itself: instead of feeling our feelings, we become their judge.
For some, the arrival to counseling signifies an admission of defeat, hoping a kind stranger can take away the pain and get them back to having it all together. In the West and in the Church, our efforts to avoid pain know no bounds. But what if healing is found not by treating symptoms with contempt, but with care and compassion? Could anxiety and depression, lust and anger, be messages sent by God not to shame us but to show us areas of our heart he wants to meet with his love?
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