Joshuah Ellis, PhD, LPC
Jan 5, 20222 min
First off, thank you for giving in to your inner geek, appreciating my lame attempt at humor in the title, and clicking on this blog. The Lord of the Rings reference, admittedly, was a cheap attempt at click bait because what I have to say in this blog, you need to hear.
I can’t begin to express the number of men that I have worked with who all say that they never liked the idea of calling a counselor and getting into therapy. In fact, I wrote an entire dissertation on the subject. Numerous reasons are given for this apparent distaste for counseling: “It seems weak or unmanly,” “I don’t want to talk about my feelings,” “I don’t want to open up to a stranger,” etc. All of these reasons indicate one thing about the male perception of counseling: There is a lot of confusion and mystery surrounding what counseling is and what the counseling process looks like.
Most men have this idea in their head that counseling is lying back on a couch in a room with pink walls, clutching a flowery pillow, and talking about their childhood pet while sobbing into a cup of chamomile tea (or something like that). What counseling really is, at least at Mind Works, is having a chat in a super relaxing office (I have a Goonies poster hanging in mine by the way) and learning some skills to help you deal with whatever you happen to be going through at the moment.
There are a lot of skills that you can learn. However, there is one that stands out as being among the most useful and impactful. Really, it’s a skill that we all possess already, but might not have fine tuned to a point that it really works for us. Are your ready for it? Ok, here goes: Awareness.
Believe it or not, awareness accounts for the vast majority of improvement in counseling. It is the fist skill you learn to appreciate because once you cultivate the ability to truly be introspective, take inventory of your thoughts and emotions, you then have everything you need to start making the changes you want. The problem is that most of us don’t naturally have the ability to do this. We have to learn. We have to learn how to stop, think about what is happing in our minds, and respond accordingly. The good news is that the changes that need to be made (most of the time) are not drastic. We just need to be made aware first.
At Mind Works Counseling Services, in Lubbock, TX we specialize in counseling for men, because we understand that men have unique needs when it comes to mental health. We provide services that are tailored to fit how your brain works and can offer suggestions and skills in a way that inspires hope and healing in your life.
Learn more about the Men’s Counseling services we offer.
Contact us to make an appointment or to let us answer any questions you may have.