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Therapy Blog for Orem, Spanish Fork & South Jordan
Individual Counseling: Practicing Acceptance
Individual counseling is a great place to learn to see things differently. For example, in my last blog post, you learned about how it can be useful to look at yourself as a person having thoughts instead of thinking that you ARE your thoughts. Today, you’ll read about acceptance; another concept that can help you get un-stuck from difficult, challenging, or “sticky” thoughts that are overwhelming, distracting, and may create other problems and challenges. Then, you’ll learn how individual counseling can help you to learn how to practice acceptance, and how you can get started.
What is Acceptance?
Read this sentence: I can learn to practice acceptance of my thoughts and feelings. What do you think? Does thinking about acceptance of thoughts and feelings seem weird or odd? Or maybe you feel uncomfortable at the idea of practicing acceptance when it comes to problematic feelings like depression and anxiety (Related article: What is Practicing Acceptance?).
It makes sense why the idea of acceptance might feel foreign to you. Feelings and thoughts tied to problems like depression and anxiety are uncomfortable and frustrating, and they might make you want to reject them and push them away. However, you might find that the problem with avoiding or burying your feelings is that they tend to come back… and they are usually even bigger the next time around!
When it comes to your depression and anxiety, the only way “out” of the feelings is to learn to feel and understand them. And that’s where acceptance comes in. Practicing acceptance of your emotions and thoughts doesn’t mean that you give into them or agree to them. Acceptance means that you simply allow the thoughts and feelings to exist instead of fighting them or resisting.
Practicing Acceptance in Individual Counseling
If you practice acceptance, you make a conscious choice to “just be” in the moment and coexist with your emotions and thoughts. And when you choose to drop your struggle against your depression and anxiety, you might find something surprising… the feelings become easier and easier to accept. In fact, you may find that instead of being drowned by your emotions, you can practice acceptance and can allow them to come and go.
So, how do you learn to accept uncomfortable emotions and thoughts? Individual counseling can help. Start individual counseling in Orem, South Jordan, or Spanish Fork, or via Telehealth for anyone in Utah.