Therapy Aids in Developing Character

With the myriad of self-help books, podcasts, classes, and answers Google has for us, it is easy to assume that therapy can be avoided if you consume enough of that knowledge. I ask that you consider instead the wise words of Ancient Roman educator, Quintilian: "The mind is exercised by the variety and multiplicity of the subject matter, while the character is moulded by the contemplation of virtue and vice." Therapists are not wellness teachers. I mean, sure, when it is relevant, we do provide psychoeducation to support someone’s growth as needed, but that isn’t the primary function of our jobs. Instead, therapy is a safe space created to really reflect one oneself in one’s entirety - witnessing both the good and bad. We observe what made us the way we are and consider what we value within ourselves and within the realms of possibility. Then, in the process of therapy, choose to actively mold ourselves into the people we want to become. Therapy is a place to develop one’s character.

"The mind is exercised by the variety and multiplicity of the subject matter, while the character is moulded by the contemplation of virtue and vice."

~ Quintilian