People often think therapists have it all figured out. We might have some stuff figured out, or have figured out something you haven’t, but we are human too. We have to run laundry. We get frustrated with our kids. We have bills. But there is one thing that good therapists know: you don’t have to have it all figured out in life.

You have to know how to resource.

Resourcing is the opposite of having all of the answers. Resourcing is looking within or around yourself for what you need in a given situation or phase in life. In fact, trusting in our ability to resource is shown to decrease anxiety, depression, stress, and catastrophic thinking.

So how can we get better at resourcing? The first step is identifying resources in our selves and our lives. Here are some examples:

Internal resources:

Experience

Meditation practice

Love of reading

Determination

Feistiness

External resources:

Nature

Breakup playlist

A good therapist

A trusted friend

The next time you’re in a pickle or you’re feeling stuck, don’t spend another second on beating yourself up for it.  Starting looking within. You’ve gotten this far, something says you have a few internal resources or the know-how to access those around you.