Life's Cracks
by Shelly Fisher, BS, CT
First of all, I’d like to introduce myself, Shelly, and my husband, Brian. We are new to Bridges of Ohio and grateful and honored to serve the Central Ohio area through the practice. We have both finished all of our Master’s level course work and are now focusing on our internship as we begin connecting with clients. We have spent fifteen years developing individuals and teams of people while also helping young couples prepare for marriage before we began our counseling degrees. We are thankful to be at Bridges Counseling as we begin this new chapter in our development.
As we entered our counseling program two years ago, we realized that often times people wonder when or if they should pursue counseling. This reality came to mind recently when Brian and I were sitting in the kitchen of some friends of ours. As we were all sitting at the table talking, the husband noticed a crack on the inside of an exterior wall of the house and wondered aloud if that had always been there. His wife confirmed that she also just noticed it a few days earlier, which quickly prompted some further investigation. After looking into things, the husband saw some stucco that had come loose on the outside of the house and was possibly allowing water to enter the wall. It was in this moment that our friends had a choice to make. They can, a.) Ignore the cracking paint inside and hope it gets better…or at least not any worse, b.) Chip off the peeling paint and simply put another fresh coat on it to make that wall look nice again, c.) Call a contractor to do some diagnostic work on the wall and figure out what’s really going on.
The wall is a part of a home that this couple saved for ten years to buy and is in the middle of a kitchen where they spend most of their time together as a family. They love this home and highly value it and hope to live there for many years to come. Although it may mean less headaches and be the lower financial investment on the front end, options A and B are likely going to allow whatever is causing the damage to continue. The wall might be mostly functional with a new coat of paint, but any possible interior water damage will simply continue to erode a home that is treasured and enjoyed. Because of this, the husband and wife began calling repair companies the next day and made a plan of how to move forward to repair the damage.
The wall is not so unlike situations we might run into in our lives. Often times, there are cracks in our lives that reveal themselves and are signs that it might be a good idea to connect with someone who has training and skills to help diagnose what’s going on beneath the surface. If you look around at relationships in your life and notice that arguments are more frequent or aren’t getting resolved, or if scrolling through social media posts is more attractive than sitting over a cup of coffee with your spouse, that may be a little crack in your wall. Perhaps you find yourself experiencing feelings of panic at unexpected times or avoiding situations or locations to prevent those feelings; those can be indications of cracks as well. While these are just a few examples, it’s not unusual for people to wait to see a counselor until the walls start to crumble. However, it’s often extremely helpful to connect with a professional before that happens so you can work together to address concerns before greater damage happens. You are worthy of that investment—your marriage is, your family is, your profession is, as are whatever other areas of your life that might be affected by the challenges of just living life.
Brian and I are currently seeing clients at a reduced rate and have options to enact a sliding scale if necessary, or there are a number of other very good counselors at Bridges available as well. If you’d like to give counseling a try or know someone who has talked about doing so, we’d be honored to journey together to help repair any cracks that might be coming up. Please give us a call (614-284-8922) or send us an email. Life can be hard, and we hope you know there’s no need to chip away at the peeling paint all by yourself.