[bawolff]

I hope this doesn't come across disrepectful, but its kind of weird the take away from 1 year of therapy is so cliched.

The take away is basically you should pay attention to your emotions, don't be afraid to express your emotions and don't be afraid to try new things. Which feels like something you would see on instagram written over a sunset.

Perhaps its just a case of the difference between knowing the path and walking the path, and the 12 months was learning to walk it.

[bowsamic]

It is exactly that. I've also been in a pretty intense therapy for 12 months (3 hours a week) and all the takeaways are really obvious. That I had to take responsibility for my life, that I would feel better if I made my life better, to step outside my comfort zone, etc.

Therapy isn't really about the advice but actually transforming it into action, as you say, walking the path instead of just knowing the path.

But for someone who is, let's say, suffering from depression, the aforementioned path sounds like cheesy bullshit and not a source of happiness at all. They don't do those things for many different reasons depending on the person's psychological history, and the advice sounds empty because they don't realise it actually works.

I had been avoiding that advice, pretending outwardly that it was bullshit, for 30 years of my life. Those cliche Instagram slogans actually do mean a lot to me now, it just turns out I literally spent my entire life until now unconsciously, but actively, avoiding them.

The way I learnt to take my first step on that path was to understand the rich psychological tapestry that caused me to avoid the path.

[rpdillon]

I really enjoyed the post, especially its focus and brevity. I agree with your last thought. In my experience, there's a significant gap between understanding something intellectually and understanding how to live it. Therapy seems to focus on the latter.