HOW TO HANDLE BEING THE THERAPIST FRIEND

Aaah being the “therapist friend”—isn’t it tough being so wise and calm and all knowing? Lol JK. Ever wonder how it is that every single one of your friends comes to you for advice and guidance? Whether you’re the self-proclaimed therapist or the great responsibility of giving advice was bestowed upon you by the friendship gods, being that friend can get stressful.

Of course, you are always happy to be there for your friends—that’s why they come to you! But it’s important not to internalize this role too much. Allow me to elaborate.

You know how you can always give the best advice, almost effortlessly to others but you can never seem to listen to your own words? This also goes for encouragement and positivity.

You, the therapist of the group can always make your friends feel better and empowered, but you just can’t do it for yourself. Well—duh!

Yes, it’s important to believe in yourself but you can’t always only rely on yourself, which is what we advice-givers do! I don’t know what it is, but it’s really hard to ask for help and advice sometimes. Personally, I’ll often find myself keeping my problems to myself. For some reason, when you’re the one everyone goes to with their problems, those problems not only add up, but they seem much more important than your own!

Vinas, please don’t minimize your own problems because that is how you start to bottle things up, which leads to way more stress than is necessary!

Since you are the person everyone in the group goes to, you’re probably really good at giving positive vibes and encouragement to everyone but yourself! You know it’s true! Your vina is stressing about life and it’s second nature for you to immediately remind them of how amazing they are and how much they do! Then, you look in the mirror and wonder when you’ll get your own life together.

It’s natural to feel down on yourself sometimes, but being the therapist friend often makes you think you should be able to pull yourself out of your own funk. But sometimes you need someone else to encourage and advise you! That’s why you should really try to communicate with your friends about your problems, so they can provide you with much needed advice and encouragement!

Are you the therapist friend in the group? Don’r know? Then take our quiz and let us know in the comments!