Seeing a therapist in New York City has become so ordinary, it's akin to doing your laundry: It's just something that people do. That said, it's important not to take it for granted, even when it becomes routine. In fact, for the hosts of Unbothered's Go Off, Sis, it's not a menial thing at all, but rather, something with monumental impact. Their trauma is REAL, and so are their recoveries.
"To me, trauma is a moment, a shift," says Danielle Cadet, managing editor of R29 Unbothered. "You feel a 'before' and an 'after'. I was one way, and now, I'm another. Not all scars are bad, but not all trauma is bad, either."
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Raven Baker, Unbothered's associate social media editor, chimes in to share her own experience with trauma: "You carry [trauma] over into every other facet of your life," she says. "You're constantly moving through everything, feeling guilty for taking up space, feeling guilty for being present. Fearing that because you're here in this space, and maybe you don't know if you should be there, that someone will take it away from you. You don't really realize what that does to your mental stability until you look up one day and you go to therapy."
On the flip side, the women make clear that therapy is not an end-all solution. Rather, it's one of a myriad of ways we can learn to make peace with our baggage and better ourselves.
"It is important to realize that your therapist is not going to be perfect. It's almost the same way you have to look at your partner. Therapy is not going to complete you or fulfill you. Doing the work, that's on you," says Cadet.
For more on trauma (and how to deal), listen to the women of Unbothered on this week's episode of Go Off, Sis below.