{"id":1540,"date":"2025-08-30T20:06:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T01:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2026-05-14T20:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T01:26:25","slug":"the-power-of-simply-showing-up-in-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/?p=1540","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Simply Showing Up in Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was almost midnight, and I found myself lying in bed, debating whether I should cancel my therapy appointment again. I hadn\u2019t done my therapy homework, and shame was creeping in. Part of me wondered: \u201cMaybe I’m not ready for therapy. Maybe I should just quit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That thought wasn\u2019t new. I have a habit of giving up when things get hard. It\u2019s a pattern I know well: when the weight of expectations gets heavy, I look for an exit. Ironically, this very tendency is the reason I went back to therapy in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Homework I Didn\u2019t Do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My therapist had asked me to journal moments when I lived in alignment with my top five core values: Growth, Accountability, Health, Financial Stability, and Integrity, and moments when I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was excited at first. I even bought a beautiful journal with \u201cMelanin\u201d on the cover, decorated with three stunning Black women and pink-lined pages. On the very first page, I proudly wrote down my values and then\u2026 I never touched it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, the journal sat on my yellow ottoman as a decoration, silently reminding me of the work I wasn\u2019t doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing My Perfectionism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In therapy, I admitted what happened and together, we unpacked the why. I realized it wasn\u2019t laziness, it was perfectionism. Perfectionists often live with all-or-nothing thinking: if we can\u2019t do it \u201cright,\u201d we don\u2019t do it at all. That\u2019s exactly what happened to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I didn\u2019t meet my own unrealistic expectations about journaling, I felt ashamed. Rather than face that shame, I wanted to avoid it by canceling my appointment or quitting altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoiding doesn\u2019t erase shame, it just delays growth.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Choosing to Show Up<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The turning point was that I didn\u2019t quit. I didn\u2019t cancel. I showed up and when I did, something powerful happened. My therapist reminded me that therapy isn\u2019t about perfection, it\u2019s about growth and growth often happens in the small, messy steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By attending, even without doing the homework, I was communicating to myself: \u201cI am worth the time and effort.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That reminder shifted something in me. Therapy wasn\u2019t about earning approval or proving I could check every box. It was about learning to stay present, even when I felt imperfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Therapy Is Teaching Me<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest benefit therapy has given me is the reminder that showing up is enough. That lesson has spilled over into other areas of my life, too. I\u2019m learning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n