It was coming close to two years since my last job, and I had been waiting on the Lord for another job. My family was not patient with me and had been very harsh with me to the point they made arrangements for me to return to the village. By God’s Grace I did not return to the village but the whole experience left me traumatized, in despair and stressed. I had gone through depression in the past so I knew it was best to get help very early.
It was one Tuesday morning after my morning devotion, my heart was heavy from the heartbreaking experiences I had gone through. I called someone and I thought I would share with her what I was going through but she did not sound available for me and what I got was the usual clichés it shall be well with you even without knowing what I was going through.
At that time I cried to God and said to Him “Lord even after I have prayed, I feel I need help, I cannot do this alone.” I picked myself up and went for my morning shower and while in the shower, I received my answer to prayer in the form of an instruction, go for counseling at Niskize. I knew for sure that this was the right path to take. I contacted Niskize and got an appointment for a Counselling session on Friday the same week.
The friendly atmosphere and professional conduct at Niskize made me relax and I felt safe to speak out right from the onset. I had eleven sessions of therapy at Niskize and here are some of the nuggets of wisdom drawn from this experience.
My take home from Therapy:
- The Personality test brought me to a place of higher self-knowledge and self- awareness. I felt empowered from knowing myself better. I have since then understood and interacted with the world around me in a much better way.
- I dealt with my past: I have come to terms with what happened in the past and dealt with it from a place of knowledge. Rather than keeping a record of the past traumatic events I have been able to pick up the lessons and wisdom and moved on to embrace my present and future. I felt a whole weight lifted off while I walked this journey. I am lighter now, the excess baggage is off me!
- I forgave those who hurt me: While going through my therapy sessions I was advised that forgiveness would offer me the opportunity to heal and move on. Being a Christian, I acknowledged that I had to forgive but on the other hand I found it a difficult thing to do at the time. Therapy was useful in that I felt I was not walking on this journey by myself, I sought the help of God and when I made the decision that I was going to forgive, I received the help I needed and even though the process was gradual, I am at the place where I know in my heart that I have forgiven those who hurt me and when the emotions and memories come to mind, I remind myself that I have forgiven and I continue to choose forgiveness.
- I forgave myself: This was a key achievement for me. Hearing myself say those words “I forgive myself” was therapy in itself. As I shared my life during the therapy sessions I pointed out areas in my life that I had made certain decisions which brought me to hurtful situations. Even though I knew God had forgiven me, I had to receive God’s forgiveness and give it to myself. In the place of guilt, regret and shame I have had peace of mind and heart.
- Learnt to establish healthy boundaries: Some of the situations that had brought me pain and heartache was because I did not have healthy boundaries in my life. I learnt that it is important to have healthy boundaries and that I am responsible for putting them in place and communicating them to the world around me. Life has been a lot better after putting in place boundaries