Therapy

When you say the word therapy, it brings a variety of things to people’s minds.

There’s physical therapy, mental therapy, and aroma therapy.

A lot of these require someone else to direct you toward the end result of being whole again, however, I’m here to say you can do it yourself. With the right amount of knowledge you can perform all the critical therapies on your own body and mind.

This is not an excuse for you to skip therapy sessions with your doctor, whether that doctor is a PT (physical therapist), or a psychiatrist. The objective view you get from them may be essential for your recovery.

Aroma therapy may even require a guide at first, though when you learn what scents you need and what works best for you, then they might not be as necessary. You’ll be guiding your own aroma therapy in short order.

Mental health therapy can be corrective, when you absolutely need that objective point of view, or preventive, in which you can do all the work yourself. Creating a sturdy foundation of mental health can be as simple as swimming or going for a walk. You can set your own prescription of bike rides or runs with the dogs. You can paint a picture or let someone else paint you. (And I do mean that in every sense of the phrase. Who knows but you might like to see your portrait or get paint all over your skin. Therapy, anyone?)

When you find what keeps you sane and physically fit, you might stick with it for a while. Don’t be afraid to try new things. There may be more than one way for you to stay fit in body and mind.

Some common ways to do your own therapy are:

Work.

Conversation.

Scrapbooking.

Visiting friends and family.

Nature watching.

Sports.

Art.

Praying.

Meditating.

(I had to check that last one, to make sure I didn’t spell it “medicating”. Even though people commonly self-medicate, I don’t recommend it.)