Sage Grazer, 32

#MyTherapyJourney

Sage Grazer, 32

📍 Los Angeles, California

“During my adolescence, I struggled in silence with anxiety and depression. When I was 17, I finally asked my parents for help and began to share my internal distress and self-loathing. I saw one therapist for a few months who gave me emotional patting on the back, which had some value, but felt disingenuous to my depressed teen self. I then started seeing a different therapist, who was a little unconventional but she challenged me in ways that helped me gain greater insight and embrace alternative perspectives. She validated my emotional experience and helped to empower me to start using my voice.

It was really difficult for me to ask for help because it pained me so much to disappoint or displease anyone. Through therapy, I learned that holding in all of that emotional pain was not benefiting me and it was manifesting in other, detrimental ways. I was able to better conceptualize how my internalized emotions translated into anxiety and low self-esteem. My therapist helped me understand how and why my life experiences shaped the lens through which I view and interact with the world.”