Brenda. In addition to my “brick and mortar” counseling practice I am also a counselor with BetterHelp which is online counseling. Being a counselor with BetterHelp supplements my income in addition to becoming a better counselor because I have talked with people outside of my comfort zone.
Brenda has been a client of mine since last October. Brenda has kidney failure and is facing having to go through dialysis. What she cannot deal with is that a port has to be surgically installed that would leave a tube hanging out of her side for the dialysis. She was absolutely opposed to this and had set her mind on euthanasia.
To complicate matters further, Brenda has a history of Bipolar Disorder on the manic side meaning she is full of these outlandish ideas and stays up all night because she is so enthusiastic. Somebody with a plan to end their lives by not taking part of a medical procedure I would expect to be pretty depressed. Brenda is the opposite of depressed which was mind boggling for me.
Brenda gets very caught up in “what if” scenarios where she panics because she thinks something is going to go wrong such as her forgetting to do something or someone else forgets to do something. Brenda is also a divorcee’ and receives monthly checks which is the majority of her income. When those check are late, talk about panic.
Our work has been to really examine the reality of her situation leaving out “what if” thoughts and concentrating on what she has control over. I would like to say that Brenda has seen the error of her ways, but she is more open to input from other people.
A huge success for Brenda is that she is going to have the procedure to get the port for dialysis. Her mind still goes to panic mode especially with the Coronavirus situation, where she now thinks she will die of kidney failure or the Coronavirus. Brenda is seeing that it is worth discomfort in order to live. Her mindset was that this is not what should her life should look like and is starting to embrace the discomfort of what dialysis brings.
If you are looking for a therapist near you and a Google search is a great way of finding one. I happen to be a therapist in Charlotte, NC but am licensed to counsel anyone in the state of North Carolina. In Google, try looking for “psychotherapist,” “find therapist,” “therapy near me,” or even “counseling charlotte, nc.” If you feel like you have hit a wall you are not able to get past, call me at (704) 458-6298 or email me at jeffhelms@clearerthoughtspllc.com.
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