Is there shame in going to counseling? I am sitting in a computer lab at 8:34 in the morning. I have a new client at 9:00 this morning and I am wondering if they are going to come. It has been my experience since I started counseling people that many believe there is something shameful about it. I think that people realize that they may need counseling but for some reason do not make the first step to receiving it. Others may call and set up an appointment but not show up. I suppose if people have lived with the “junk in the trunk”, as I like to call it, so far, what is the harm in keeping it hidden for a little while longer. The other thing I have noticed since starting this program a year and a half ago is that EVERYONE has “junk in their trunk.” unfortunately, the stigma against counseling, or therapy is too strong. I really appreciate a song that has come out recently by Joy Williams. It is called hide and I think that it really says a lot about the shame that people are feeling and the need to make it known.

Hide by Joy Williams

To anyone who hides behind a smile
To anyone who holds their pain inside
To anyone who thinks they are not good enough
To anyone who feels unworthy of love
To anyone who ever closed the door
Closed their eyes and locked themselves away

You don’t have to hide
You don’t have to hide anymore
You don’t have to face this on your own
You don’t have to hide anymore

So come out, come out, come out wherever you are
Anyone who’s trying to cover up their scars
To anyone who’s ever made a big mistake
We all been there, so don’t be ashamed

Come out, come out and join the rest of us
You’ve been alone for way too long
And if you feel like no one understands
Come to the One with scars on His hands
‘Cause He knows where you are and where you’ve been
His scars will heal you if you let Him

~JK