I work with many clients who have been through things in their childhood or recent past that were very painful - things they want to forget. For some it's a loss, a trauma, abuse or divorce that they are desperately wanting to let go of or forget entirely. For others it may be something they witnessed or experienced that haunts them in nightmares or flashbacks. Counseling provides a safe setting to process through difficult events and deal with them more effectively. In doing this the stress, anxiety, grief or depression is often lifted and noticeably less painful. The truth is most of us are incapable of fully forgetting or letting go; our brain isn't wired that way. But, as we begin to deal with the situation in a healthy way inside of a safe therapeutic relationship, it begins to have less of a hold and can be felt and thought about completely different. So in a sense we can let go...we can let go of the old ways of thinking about it and move through the old feelings to enter into a new way of experiencing life. This often is freeing for clients who bravely engage in the difficult process of healing. It is so rewarding. You don't have to know what to do or how to do it; therapy guides you through the process. You just have to show up and be willing to walk down the path that often feels scary and painful but leads to such healing and freedom.