{"id":9273,"date":"2018-01-01T14:28:44","date_gmt":"2018-01-01T20:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=9273"},"modified":"2022-03-21T15:26:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T20:26:25","slug":"how-did-i-get-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/01\/how-did-i-get-here","title":{"rendered":"How Did I Get Here?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week\u2019s Health Tip is from our newest WholeHealth Chicago practitioner, Christine Savas, who is a clinical mental health counselor. We asked her to write about her approach to a new client. Because one day that client might be you, I thought this would be a helpful piece for the new year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Edelberg, MD<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time and again I hear variations on the theme \u201cHow did I get here?\u201d There\u2019s often tremendous defeat and sadness hanging in the silence that follows, a reminder that perhaps this was not how you felt life was supposed<\/em> to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can speculate about exactly when the twists and turns of life began to get difficult. Perhaps in grade school, when you painfully sought acceptance, tried to not be a victim of bullies, or wished for a home life that as happy as those of your friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or maybe it was the first time you heard the question \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d We can\u2019t help but smile at our choices, impossible to appreciate back then how our constricted view of the world was powerfully limiting our options. We looked at life as if from inside a mailbox. Today, if we\u2019re honest, we\u2019ve all thought \u201cIf only I\u2019d known then what I know now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point, we become participants in real life. Here\u2019s a quick exercise: think of yourself at age five. Then, move forward to your current age. You might be 25, 30, 40, 50, or older. All those years! Think of everything that happened. Choices about education, relationships, career, and your place in the world. You might have moved to a different city or to several new locations. The thought of that serious relationship in college that was supposed to last forever brings a chuckle or possibly tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who you thought you were in your 20s may have little bearing on who you are now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scratching the surface
<\/strong>A helpful idea to keep in mind is that your life is anything but straightforward. And when you recognize that things are more complicated than you assumed, you\u2019re just scratching the surface. Your head swims as the layers of complexity that form you<\/em> become exposed to the clear light of day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you find yourself asking, \u201cHow did I get here?\u201d and you realize you\u2019re not happy with your life and need some help from a professional counselor like me, know that moving forward is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By understanding yourself, gaining some insight into the why and the how and the \u201cwhat can I do,\u201d you can make real progress. The answer to many of our struggles might be found in the popular Serenity Prayer, which has appeared on everything from T-shirts to cocktail napkins. Yet the idea behind it is really quite profound:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to <\/em>change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer to finding acceptance is to look inward. And sometimes, to truly turn your gaze in that direction you need the help of therapy. We therapists are trained to challenge the preconceived ideas you may have about yourself, ask questions you may have been reluctant to ask yourself, offer new perspectives, and listen to what you\u2019re saying\u2026as well as what you\u2019re not saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a part of the WholeHealth Chicago team allows me the opportunity to use therapeutic tools that are simply unavailable to most therapists. The mental health profession is generally woefully ignorant about the effects of good nutrition, regular exercise, sunlight, and the clinically studied usefulness of so-called alternative therapies such as Chinese medicine<\/a>, herbs, homeopathy, and energy therapies like Healing Touch and yoga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while psych medications can be very helpful, the medical profession itself acknowledges that these drugs are vastly overprescribed (15% of Americans over age ten are taking one or more of them).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please, if you\u2019ve been experiencing emotional pain, if your psychic get-up-and-go seems to be circling the drain, schedule a visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re all here to help.
Christine M. Savas, M.Ed, LPC
<\/strong>Clinical Mental Health Counseling<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s Health Tip is from our newest WholeHealth Chicago practitioner, Christine Savas, who is a clinical mental health counselor. We asked her to write about her approach to a new client. Because one day that client might be you, I thought this would be a helpful piece for the new year. David Edelberg, MD […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,67,2336,50,2335,130,3,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-h","category-healing-touch","category-healthy-lifestyle","category-homeopathy","category-integrative-medicine","category-knowledge-base","category-mental-health"],"yoast_head":"\r\nHow Did I Get Here?<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Time and again I hear variations on the theme \u201cHow did I get here?\u201d\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/01\/how-did-i-get-here\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta 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