Yesterday on Twitter I heard about a fabulous new online campaign aimed at ending the stigma of therapy. It's called "I Have a Therapist," and the concept is as simple as it is brilliant. Developed by Charidy, a fundraising platform for non-profits based in Brooklyn, New York, the campaign aims to get people talking about therapy in public forums in order to dispel the myths and stigma surrounding mental illness.
Everyone who has a therapist is invited to post an image of themselves to the campaign's website in which they are holding a handwritten sign saying, "I have a therapist," along with a description of what that means to them. Participants can then share these images on social media to get the word out even further.
The reasoning behind the campaign is explained by the creators:
"We live in a world that still has not totally accepted therapy. It’s seen as a 'last ditch' option for people who are in deep trouble or as something that’s only for 'broken' people. So, you people who have therapists, we want you to help us. We want you to tell the world that you go to a therapist because we want to make it normal to say that. We don’t want it to sound weird."
Amen to that. I am participating in the campaign by writing this post and sharing on Twitter. I may even get the courage up to post a photo on the website, but that remains to be seen.
I have been in therapy on and off for the past 20 years, so I have many stories to tell, but I will save them for future posts. For now I will kick things off by simply saying, "I have a therapist."
Do you? Let me know in the comments so we can keep the conversation alive.
Sarah xoxo
Everyone who has a therapist is invited to post an image of themselves to the campaign's website in which they are holding a handwritten sign saying, "I have a therapist," along with a description of what that means to them. Participants can then share these images on social media to get the word out even further.
The reasoning behind the campaign is explained by the creators:
"We live in a world that still has not totally accepted therapy. It’s seen as a 'last ditch' option for people who are in deep trouble or as something that’s only for 'broken' people. So, you people who have therapists, we want you to help us. We want you to tell the world that you go to a therapist because we want to make it normal to say that. We don’t want it to sound weird."
Amen to that. I am participating in the campaign by writing this post and sharing on Twitter. I may even get the courage up to post a photo on the website, but that remains to be seen.
I have been in therapy on and off for the past 20 years, so I have many stories to tell, but I will save them for future posts. For now I will kick things off by simply saying, "I have a therapist."
Do you? Let me know in the comments so we can keep the conversation alive.
Sarah xoxo