I’ve gone back and forth on this idea for a long time. Sometimes you just need a break from therapy. Sometimes it’s easier to justify making time for exercise than it is to justify therapy. You might find yourself thinking, “You know, running, yoga, etc. is basically the same thing”. Sometimes I have the same thought.
However, after consulting with other therapists and taking an honest look for myself, here’s where I’ve landed: Exercise can be therapeutic, but it is not therapy. Exercise is great for your mood and overall health (when you use it that way). It can support the work you do in therapy by helping you integrate and/or cross-train. You may even notice parallels between your exercise & your therapy (hurray!).
There are a lot of ways they are similar, and if you want to say exercise is your therapy, go for it. But for the sake of knowing how we create long term change in our relationships with ourselves and others, it’s important to know that there are 2 key differences:
1. In therapy, you have that feeling of powerlessness and you learn how to mobilize yourself in the SAME context (the experience you’re having in the room). Put simply, feeling powerless and burning it out ➡️catharsis. Feeling powerless and self-activating in therapy ➡️ resilience.
For you to work through whatever it is you’re going through, there needs to be the juxtaposition of powerlessness & empowered. Ex. Feeling frozen with anger at your boss or spouse & then going to the gym to burn it off isn’t necessarily working through & processing those feelings, it’s releasing them. Still important to have a release, but it may not get you any closer to standing up for yourself.
2. It is hugely healing to work through the hard stuff with someone else there to witness, support, & guide you. One definition of trauma is overwhelmed + alone. Most of you have already been alone with your stuff once. If that’s the case, working through it all alone may not be the best route. Suffering about suffering all alone can be retraumatizing.
Looking for help? I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to email me at info@alexbarnettecounseling.com. You don’t have to go through the hard stuff alone.
