No, you're not crazy.

It's a question I hear often in therapy. "Am I crazy?" "I sound crazy, right?" Or just a statement of fact, "I know. I'm crazy." Labels don't serve those who seek mental and emotional health and wholeness. They're arbitrary names that doctors thought up to describe a cluster of symptoms, but they certainly don't heal, and I'm not quite sure they help. We'd do much better understanding ourselves than we do labeling ourselves. This week, I focus on an important part of mental health: the relationship you have with all of the parts of you. Yes, you read that correctly. There are many, many parts of you, and your relationship with each part contributes and determines the health of the whole person that you are. Let's talk about what psychotherapists call "parts work." Every single part of you arose from an experience that necessitated its presence, therefore every single part deserves your love, respect, and acceptance. This week, I'll make the case for exactly that.