Erin Elizabeth Downing, 37

#MyTherapyJourney

Erin Elizabeth Downing, 37

📍 Charlotte, North Carolina

“At the age of 25, I was so far out of touch with who I was, and the depths of my mental capacity, that when my mother called to inform me that she just received the diagnosis of breast cancer, I responded with indifference.  One could infer that I was in shock, or one might argue that I was so far out of touch with my emotions that at that moment, I was incapable of processing the severity of the situation presented.

The six months following my mother's passing are a blur.  There are very few things I remember of that time, yet almost every memory includes my grief therapist.  There were times when I saw her once a week, twice a week, sometimes once a month. For the next year she was my lighthouse.  The lighthouse I looked to, as I stood, sinking in a tar pit of despair, grasping for a way out, drowning in my own emotions. My therapist taught me that the only way out is through.  Without her friendship and guidance, I am not sure where I would be today. I will forever be grateful for the safe place she provided to explore the depths of my feelings, including the darkest of them all.”