Swedish Therapy Cabs: Therapy on the Go

http://www.ngvglobal.com/images/stories/vehicles/Volvo_tri-fuel_Stockholm_Taxi_(2009).jpg

Sweden has the highest number of one-person households in the EU — 47% of Swedish households are comprised of persons living alone. Living alone can increase loneliness and other symptoms of depression especially during long Swedish winters where there is very little daylight.

In an attempt to introduce therapy to riders who may be experiencing depression and/or other issues, Taxi Stockholm, a private taxi service, has hired three therapists to provide counseling in the back seat of its taxis to passengers. The idea is to normalize therapy and even help passenger/client with a pressing issue. No matter how short the ride, bringing therapy to the rider can expose and normalize the idea of therapy so they are more likely to seek it out themselves after they leave the taxi.

What a great idea! I am all for it — especially in large cities where personal connections are difficult to make and maintain and time is short. This could be one very clever idea to destigmatize therapy for the general public.

The Importance of Addiction Counseling in Staying Sober

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One of my favorite bloggers writing on the subject of sobriety, the Drunky Drunk Girl, recently posted a piece about why counseling should be part of living sober. She does not downplay the importance of AA and other types of mutual support groups to maintaining sobriety.

But, she says, professionals are needed to help "unravel the core issues" hidden under the addiction.

I've been doing this work for a few years, and I glimpsed some of these core issues. I mean glimpses because even the those in therapy are not completely invested in the process. It could take years of work and courage to digging, and for many this is too daunting.

Whether a client has had the most horrific childhood, suffered abuse and neglect, witnessed addiction and violence, and subjected to immeasurable harms caused by poverty; or the client comes from old money and had access to all the educational and vocational opportunities afforded by money, the underlying issues are very much similar — unresolved, unprocessed emotional pain originating in childhood. It can be parental neglect, enmeshment, a traumatic event, or even a habit (modeling) — if your parents drank fine wines with every meal, it wouldn't seem abnormal that you consume over 5 or 6 drinks during an evening out, which becomes the norm.

My job is to ask question, then listen, ask more questions and listen some more. And what comes to the surface is magical thinking, habitual (mindless) behavior, projection, distorted negative self-image, lack of a support network, anxiety and depression, etc. And they all intersect at one point or another.

It's possible to work through all this. However, you have to be willing to work at it and learn to be okay with the discomfort. There is just no other way.

https://drunkydrunkgirl.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/the-importance-of-professional-counseling/