Reasons

I'm in therapy because I have what I think are probably irrational fears: like, when boarding the bus I'm afraid that if my dollar gets jammed in the fare machine everyone will point and stare and little children will taunt me. Also, I'm afraid I'm an alcoholic. Even though I haven't had a drink in four years and have never had more than four drinks in the course of a six-hour evening and that many only at a wedding. I'm in therapy because sometimes I cry for no reason. I've been that way since I was seven years old. I'm in therapy because I finally have health insurance that covers it.  I'm in therapy because I have regrets and there are things in my past I want to understand, like why it still bothers me that I had to repeat second grade. I'm in therapy because all my friends do it and they're well-adjusted people, so either it works or it's just another trend that you feel out of it for not at least trying and yes, it's  expensive along the line of a minor shoe habit, but  I have too many shoes already so I'm in therapy. I'm in therapy because I want to be able to say words like "empower" and "heal" and "validate" in one sentence. And mean it. I'm in therapy because, well, I mean, it's like, well, because people say I have, you know, issues. I'm in therapy to learn how to communicate my desires—once I figure out what they are, in therapy. I'm in therapy because every so often I get the impression that everyone hates me and even though if given enough time I can back it up with substantiating evidence, I'm thinking maybe therapy could prove me wrong and while having my entire understanding of the intricacies of humanity and the workings of the universe dismantled and rearranged scares me shitless and, frankly, threatens whatever tenuous grasp on reality I may already have, I will stick with it because if it turns out to be a scam it will be the most spectacular bit of mental masochism I've ever perpetrated on myself and that's got to be worth something, right? I'm in therapy because I think I might have low self-esteem, and as popular as that is it's much more fashionable to lose it—excuse me, overcome it. I'm in therapy because as of yet there is no liposuction-like procedure for removing polluted thoughts from the mind. I'm in therapy because sometimes I think I'm going crazy, like when I'm sitting alone in my room waiting for someone to call me back, someone I left a message for three days ago and also yesterday and the day before too because I wanted to be sure he didn't miss the first one and then in case he did miss the first one it seemed like it would be OK to leave a second message to reinforce that I truly did want to talk to him, if he felt like calling—it's no big deal if he doesn't. And I have to say it seems like he doesn't because I haven't heard from him. I'm in therapy because I have what one friend of mine calls lack-of-control issues, and while I don't quite understand what she means by that, I think therapy could help me figure it out. I'm in therapy and my therapist says it's good that I am able to talk about these things, because acknowledging a problem is the first step toward correcting it. My therapist is patient and I'm hoping that patience will rub off. I'm in therapy. I think it's working.