Today is National Psychotherapy Day. It happens every year and every year I forget. This year I haven’t for a couple of reasons.
This years theme is ‘the therapists journey’, but I’m not going to bore you with a long torrid tale of how I ended up here, just with the two main reasons that I didn’t forget NPD this year, and for the second one I thank my own therapist, Rhyl.
1. I started seeing clients in my lovely new space today that is purpose built for the purpose of providing therapy with colour coordinated soft furnishings, all my books related to my work, my lovely #CatherineODonnell charcoal, and a sexy new couch. I saw my first clients at 2pm and finished half an hour ago.
2. I’m relieved. So relieved to no longer be seeing clients in my home. Why? And this is me being on my own couch. Not the sexy new one in the lovely new space, but mine, in my lounge room, surrounded by piles of self-care stuff that I no longer *have* to put away. Next to the pile of laundry I feel bad that I haven’t sorted and means the lounge is starting to resemble the Everest Basecamp. It means I don’t have to close the door to my bedroom, but not so much that ORen and Fè can’t still get in.
As a child I was lazy. I grew up thinking I was lazy. I was told I was lazy. All the efforts I put into things wasn’t valid because it wasn’t what I *should* be doing. I wasn’t washing, cleaning, primping, cooking, washing up, etc.... I wasn‘t doing housework.
I hate doing housework. Like really loath and detest it. I grew up with it as ‘my job’. I was rewarded, but never saw the pocket money earned because it was kept locked in a tin, in a locked drawer. I had to ask permission to spend the money I earned doing jobs I hated. By the way, I’ll also never peel a potato again. All the goodness is in the skins, right?
So now. I understand the need to do housework, I’ll do it. When I have too.
But now I have a space where I can see clients, that will require a *flick* every now and then because it won‘t be infested with animal hair, I will be able to do all the things I do...because I’m lazy...
working as a therapist
writing wedding ceremonies and marrying couples (Yup, I’m a celebrant)
caring for wildlife
relocating snakes
researching and delivering conference papers and speeches
producing and recording a mental health podcast
writing and performing poetry
and developing a business idea with multiple moving parts that will provide about 40,000 people with free access to mental health care, for free.
So yeah, I’ve figured out I’m not lazy, it just that housework isn’t that high on my list of things to do this week, or next. But seeing clients in a clean space is.
