"Wait... you are in... counseling?"

"... Yes."

"Do you really need counseling?" They ask with distaste.

No, I don't go around announcing that I am in counseling, but if it gets brought up, I am no longer ashamed to confess that I have and do attend counseling sessions, even if this is some people's reactions.

I used to be ashamed of going to counseling for the very reason that the person asked with such a negative tone; society teaches us going to counseling is a disgrace to your pride.

No matter what your reason for going to counseling is, you can't win.

You make the decision to go to counseling to work through a serious problem or issue in your life, society says that you are just seriously messed up.

You decide counseling would be the best place for you to talk through some of your current situations, society says that your life is in shambles.

You think in order to get through a rough time it would be best to attend counseling, society says you are going through a huge life crisis and you will never be the same.

You need help making some tough decisions so you go to counseling to console in someone, and society says you are too weak to deal with things alone.

You know the best way to process your mental illness may be to see a counselor, and society says you are simply broken beyond repair.

Some people may feel they are seriously messed up, or that their life is in shambles, they are actually going through a huge life crisis, you may feel weak or broken beyond repair; and there is nothing wrong with going to counseling for those reasons- society has just decided that it is a negative thing to search out help.

Counseling is a very brave thing to do, no matter what the reason is for you going. Counseling forces you to be vulnerable, to put some dark things into light, to talk about the things you want to avoid, and to face the things that hurt. No one wants to do that, but some people decide to do that because they know it's what they need. It's what I needed.

No matter if you are the person that already attends counseling or the person that is working on things alone, we need to realize everyone has baggage in different forms. Counseling is a process that helps the load become lighter, helps carry the baggage, or sometimes even set it down- now where's the bad in that?