Ellen Plant, 59

#MyTherapyJourney

Ellen Plant, 59

📍 Baltimore, Maryland

“From an early age I struggled with anxiety, depression and low self esteem. In those days, parents rarely had any awareness of their children’s interior life. If you had a “mental health” issue you were stigmatized, gossiped about and of course seen as less than. Life for any teenager is rough and I was told I was too sensitive and to toughen up. Despite having two physically present parents, I never felt loved or even liked; it was clear to me that I was a huge disappointment. In an effort to cope with daily life I developed some bad habits to try and deal with the multitude of emotions I could not make sense of or manage.  

By the time I got to a good therapist around the age of 40, there was a lot of work to be done. My therapist helped me to begin to love myself. That sounds so basic and simple and even trite.  But it’s not. She helped me to love and embrace that innocent child who was not provided with what she really needed when growing up. She helped me to understand that I needed to be kinder to myself. My therapist helped me to realize that I am enough.  And always have been. She helped me to also forgive my parents and understand that they were young and had no resources to be better parents to me. “