#TransformationTuesday #WaybackWednesday #ThrowbackThursday #FacetoFaceFriday
By Iliana Bianca Torres, MS, LMHC at Agape Therapy Institute
It’s funny with the advent of social media that we have these named days of the week. My personal favorite is #TacoTuesday, but it got me thinking. Do we need a specific day of the week to make certain topics a focus? I think not. But taking from the named days of the week I want to focus on #TransformationTuesday.
It means different things to different people. Some have pulled themselves up from their boot straps and made their lives completely different, others learned to take control of their lives and learn to live better, while others make physical, relational, or emotional transformations.
In the scope of complete transparency, #TransformationTuesday means a lot to me because of the transformations I have made in my own life. I understand what it means to live as a post bariatric surgical patient and all the physical, mental, and emotional changes that come with it. How completely alone you feel in your pain and the shame you feel for having “let yourself go” to the point where you need surgical intervention. Everyone’s reasoning for bariatric surgery may be different, however, the journey remains similar for us all. It is a special club that unfortunately you pay admission for with your health.
The process of getting approved for the surgery comes with its own struggles as well as preparing for it. Going through the actual surgery and then allowing yourself to ask for help during the healing process can be difficult for some. The recovery would be nearly impossible for even the strongest of people to go through alone. You may also find that what was already within you becomes amplified through this journey, meaning unresolved issues or emotions you may have thought you had a handle on suddenly resurface. It may bring up things you didn’t even realize you needed to deal with until you got real with yourself about your health, because getting real with yourself about your health forces you to become real with yourself about the role you played in the decline of your own health.
It is grueling to think about. I can remember the years of research I did on the different types of surgeries, their outcomes, and on the surgeons themselves. But to do that I first had to admit that I was no longer in control of my own health and needed medical intervention. In retrospect I should have sought counseling during this time because you become very vulnerable through this entire process and having a mental health professional to walk me through this process would have been so beneficial. Are you struggling with your health and considering bariatric surgery? Or maybe you have already gone through the surgery and find yourself struggling through the healing process. Is the weight of it all too much too bare? Are you looking for someone who can walk you through the process from a been there done that perspective? There is a safe place for you to work through these issues at Agape Therapy Institute.
About Iliana Torres, MS, LMHC
Iliana Torres, MS is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor at Agape Therapy Institute. She works with children, adolescents and adults in individual, couples and family counseling. She works with a wide array of issues that people present with in counseling (not just those that concern weight and eating), including substance abuse and addiction, anxiety, depression, OCD, identity, trauma, and more. To book an appointment with her, call our office at (407) 900-8633 or go online to agape.clientsecure.me to self schedule.
Tags:
- counseling
- mental health
- self-care