Help for Introverts

Many of us are quieter sorts who keep to ourselves, preferring not to socialise too much. Often termed ‘introverts', we can feel quite uncomfortable in crowds, preferring small groups and intimate settings. We introverts have a rich internal world that we can find very satisfying. The expectations of the extroverted people around us isn't helping us with our introversion. That's why I think we need to put energy into helping introverts cope.

© Noah Silliman - unsplash.com

Introverts: feeling a bit wrong

Although we can feel strongly about what makes us uncomfortable, we can also feel that there is something a bit wrong with us for being introverts.

One of the difficulties is that introverts are often drawn to extroverts and can end up in relationships with them. This is pretty understandable; all of us seek out people who seem to have qualities we don't have. However, some of the more outgoing people have a very difficult time understanding introversion, and by extension, introverts.

Being misunderstood

Because those who are extroverted like to be outgoing and social (and less focused on their interior worlds) it can sometimes be difficult for them to understand the world of introverts, who doesn't like to do these things. As is often the case, when we don't understand something it can start to seem like an aberration.

To some people, introversion can look like a version of ‘not coping' or of mental ill-health.

Judged and labelled for introversion

So if you're an introvert you might be getting the message from an extrovert close to you that there is something wrong with you and you need to go to therapy to sort yourself out. You may have been hearing this for a while and are starting to wonder if it is true.

Helping introverts cope

If you feel some of these pressures – a feeling that you are wrong for being an introvert, but a sense that it’s also somehow right – I'd like to invite you to come and see me for an initial consultation. Introversion is not a defect, just another way of being.

I don't charge for this first consultation; it's an opportunity to discuss how we might be able to work together to help you live as an introvert in a world of extroverts. I offer counselling in Richmond, an inner suburb of Melbourne and in Sunbury.

I also offer couples counselling for those who feel their relationship might need some help.

Of course, along the way we can also find out if there are some other things you’d like to sort out, and what we might be able to do about it them.