Freud suggested it was desirable for people to be able to love and to work, and some might add, to play. These might sound like simple matters – love, work, and play – but they require emotional balance and flexibility, as well as realistic perceptions of oneself and others. Since there is so much of the past in the present, even invisibly, the emotional obstacles to unencumbered work, love, and play are many. Some people do indeed accomplish these seemingly simple but actually very ambitious aims on their own, but it is so much easier when one has help to clarify one’s misperceptions.
It can be difficult at any age to grow up and take the next developmental step forward. And developmental missteps are resolved much more readily, and usually more completely, with therapy than without. Yet so many of us seem to prefer to try to grow up the hard way, stumbling and struggling alone through our own personal obstacle courses. There are other options.
Dr. Blum is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in Philadelphia.