Lessons Learned

8 things doing Zine Therapy improved in my life
5 things that were missing
3 reminders for when I do this again

8 things doing Zine Therapy improved in my life

1 • I recognized patterns over time that I was unable to see before. This is the reason I go to therapy and they fail EVERY time because they are so focused on the month-to-month; I fluctuate too much and need to see patterns season-to-season, year-to-year.

2 • I resolved many surface issues. that I’m good at ignoring (and that in “real” therapy, I always forget to bring up).

3 • I saw how much I am my own champion - taking care of my mental/emotional self felt good.

4 • It was free - you can find most of the therapy worksheets online after a little reflection & identifying & google searching. I got much further in 12 months than I did in 2 years with a “real” therapist and it didn’t cost $300/month.

5 • I had to learn how to deal with the tough stuff on my own, even though there’s a learning curve and it’s difficult. I am my own accountability partner. With “real” therapy I felt very codependent on that person to stay by my side so when they broke up with me I felt abandoned.

6 • I was able to set goals for improvement that were specific & achievable because they met every need. Therapists like your goals to fit in their view of what a good goal is.

7 • There was zero social barrier - I’ve gotten very comfortable with being open/honest with myself in a way that would take years to accomplish with someone else.

8 • I had to be highly creative every month for this project! Even if I didn’t do anything else, I still did this, and it became a consistent creative practice.

5 things that were missing

1 • Outside perspective: I am limited to my bias

2 • Training/knowledge: I am limited to my search results

3 • Support: being accountable to someone else means they do half the work for you, but they’re also there to provide an extra cushion that you can’t give to yourself

4 • Next steps: though I could set small goals and see patterns over time, I still don’t know what to “do” with all this knowledge

5 • Trauma-informed approaches: I am still learning how to deal with the trauma I’ve experienced, and perhaps would have benefitted with more knowledge on the subject

3 reminders for when I do this again

1 • It will drain you creatively, emotionally, and mentally: it’s a really intensive kind of therapy that requires focus multiple days in a row (whereas “real” therapy is usually just one afternoon & some reflection)

2 • Make the zine very shortly after the reflection, or do double issues to compare, but if you wait more than 10 days after reflecting you’ll never make the zine (upside down smiley)

3 • Improve the monthly survey frequently so it addresses questions/concerns from the previous months; those things don’t get lost because you can read them over, but by the end you realized that addressing those was better than simply noting them