Are You Beyond Therapy?
That’s what Zak thought - he was beyond therapy. Or couples counseling. He had graduated from an Ivy League school with a double major in Law and Psychology. He married his high school sweetheart Blanca shortly after the left the University they both attended. Everything was going according to plan. Zak was working in one of the most successful law firms in Manhattan and Blanca had given birth to her second baby. Unfortunately the second child was mentally handicapped. The strain of the situation became too great for Zak who retreated to work and rarely came home, except to sleep.
When Blanca threatened to leave the marriage if they didn’t seek therapy immediately, Zak informed her that he was as qualified as any therapist and he didn’t want some “quack who knows less than I do” telling him what to do. Zak attempted a form of co-counseling (a counseling method based on reciprocal peer counseling with no third party) with Blanca. Blanca felt frustrated by this and thought it was another way Zak had to control everything.
By the time they entered couples counseling, Zak and Blanca were exhausted and depressed. Zak refuted the therapist at every turn for several months until, weary, he allowed himself and his wife to be counseled. It was then that serious progress was made. Zak could finally hear how Blanca was feeling, raising a handicapped child essentially on her own.
Sometimes you have to get over issues of pride, ego, even education to allow yourself to be counseled. We all need help and guidance sometimes and nobody is beyond the need for therapy.
