#FNF - A friendly non-friend

“My #FNF says that I need to learn how to identify my emotions before I let them get the best of me.”

”I was in therapy the other day and said I was sad, and my therapist goes; yes, a mood” #FNF

A Friendly non-friend - Therapist/Mental Health Counselor.
Therapist - A professional that treats mental health conditions by psychological means rather than medical means.
Mental health counselor - A professional that treats people with a wide range of mental health issues including but not limited to anxiety, depression, PTSD, difficult emotions, life stressors, etc.

There is a stereotype that therapy is just a place people go to where someone listens to people talk about their feelings and vent. While that is true, there is some really difficult, and most of the time liberating and healing work done through therapeutic sessions AND they may be some of the friendliest and nicest people you may encounter; and not only because it’s their profession.

 Note: not all therapist have to be nice and friendly but lets keep these humans in positive regard for the sake of this post ;]

Brings me to my point, a therapist is a “friendly non friend” or, FNF for short. Therapist have many ways of practicing therapy and/or psychology. Some think they are mind-readers **OooOo**. Naw, thats not it, they have just studied human behavior for a while. A therapist may take a not knowing stance and have you come to your own conclusions to solve a problem (done judiciously), and help with your quality of life. They may offer some very directed changes in your behaviors to help get you out of some problematic thinking habits and actions; they may even give you a diagnosis. That sounds scary but ultimately it helps give reason to some thoughts, behaviors, and feelings.

All be it, a therapist is there to support you in your journey of life. Kind of like a friend, at times even like best friend, they will get to know part(s) about you that you didn’t think you would tell people. So this makes you vulnerable with them, and hey guess what… they respect that and help you feel respected. Guess what again, you have learned to be vulnerable with another human and you didn’t combust into flames.

Being empathetic, understanding, courageous, and at times able to challenge your beliefs you may wish they were actually your friend. But, there is a huge caveat, they are not… its not that they don’t want to be, it’s just that they are professionals. No not a professional friend, or a friend you pay for. They are professionals that can help you get through some really tough times, like a good or even great friend. And therapists can be FNF’s and that is to help you. There are many ethical and legal reasons why therapist cannot be your “real” friend, and that is to help the client and keep them safe. Therapists are there to provide psychological services that ultimately have people not come back to therapy, until they need it again. Therapists are working in the room while being FNF’s to reflect some patterns that my be troublesome or worrisome. They are there to help families that are dealing with grief, help couples regain some friendships and love. Help a teenager living with depression feel human again. Therapist are FNF with skills to keep the public and yourself safe; Get you to back on track to feeling human again, not perfect just human.

So go find a FNF that can help you get some inner work done, lets break the stigma, just like you go to the gym for your body, you go therapy for your mind. There are different reasons to go to therapy, check this blog out if you want to read about some reasons to go back.