The first thing that stands out for me is the lack of knowledge on your family's part, regarding your art studies. Many artists are sensitive types and for many people, art therapy is an expression of feelings and emotions. I had the very dangerous situation of an art teacher with a counselling major giving me a few sessions and she would criticise my art. For example, she asked me to draw some geometric shapes, and I drew the Hiroshima Peace Dome and a church in Nagasaki after the bomb. She made adaptations to them. I found journalling and writing preferable.

I can relate to a degree about something else, and that is, the only people I trust with my health are a friend of mine who lives a short distance away and another friend in a different state. You may have read my articles where I reference the ridiculous doctor who doesn't believe that men and women can or should be platonic friends, and the reason I have so much anger and disdain towards him is that I only went to him under duress. I hadn't wanted to see him, but my mother pushed to the point of no return, and when I later said I didn't want to do it, she replied, "Why make an appointment to see that doctor if he's not good enough?" (Well, Hello? You were the one who pushed, who wouldn't take no for an answer, who kept on asking me and I kept saying no! And then, months later, when I refer to that doctor as "this clown", you reply, "Because I don't think you gave "this clown" much of a chance." Hello? I didn't want to see him, so what did you expect?)

When I was 12, my mother deliberately forced me to see a doctor she knew I didn't like. What happened was, I had an appointment to see a doctor I thought was okay, but she was delayed due to an emergency patient, and the receptionist, though well-meaning, asked if we'd like to see a doctor who I'd specifically asked her not to make me see, she said yes, and later on, came up with a preposterous defence of her actions. Namely, that in a case like that, you've got to see them. All the receptionist was doing was asking if we'd like to see a particular doctor because he'd be faster, she didn't come across with a weapon and say, "If you don't go into that consultation room straightaway, there'll be trouble." She offered us a choice. Later that year, my mother was pushing me to see the same doctor, but I was able to catch her out because, okay, in the first case, my father had to see the doctor the week before, and my mother asked if I wanted to go with him, and I said, "No," and I foolishly added the rejoinder, "Especially not because of who he's seeing." This was before mobile phones, and suddenly, she looked up and said, "What? Is he seeing this doctor?" "Yes." Another doctor was on holidays. Then pushing turned to pleading and the next day, my mother was able to get me an appointment with the doctor I thought was okay. (She was the only one there). I had been ill with asthma, and the specialist she referred me to was unhelpful. A younger, more switched-on doctor would have said, not that my cough was a habit but that just like some small children can complain of stomach aches when there's no physical cause, a cough like that can be stress related, and as school seems to be unbearable, maybe we need to consider homeschooling with a specialist Japanese teacher.

Therapy can be very positive, BUT the person seeking the therapy needs to be the one in control, not an external person. I should have added, though, that I went mute with this doctor my mother forced me to see. A person in therapy needs to be able to speak up and say, "I'm not happy with that therapist, I want to try somebody else." And, "You need help" can come from someone to belittle you.