Talking about your issues with a trained professional helps for a number of reasons:  

• the therapist is unbiased

• the therapist doesn't know your family and doesn't have opinions about them; 

• the therapist can hear the most intimate of details without flinching; 

• the therapist can bear witness to awful events that happened; 

• the therapist can help you work through painful feelings;

• you don't have to "sugar-coat" what you say or how you say it;

• you don't have to spare the listener details that you think would embarrass or overwhelm them.

Is Change Possible?

How you are in the world today stems from a multitude of things:

•    how you grew up; 

•    the beliefs you were taught by your family and culture; 

•    the effect certain events in your life had on you;

•    your innate personality;

Obviously you can't change your past, but you can change your future!  By figuring out which things from your past no longer work for you, which beliefs you want to let go of, and which events sent you in the wrong direction, you can make improvements in yourself and in your relationships.  By understanding your innate personality you can use it to work for you instead of against you.  I have seen people make incredible changes in their lives: people who were abused in the past have come to understand how it affected their current relationships and have found true love and intimacy; people who were addicted to substances have understood where the addiction started and dealt with the pain so they no longer need to numb themselves; people who had been told that life had to be lived a certain way, have accepted themselves and begun to live joyous, free, fulfilling lives on their own terms.