Most people believe that the only way to really get over your problems is to sit down with a therapist and talk it out..  But for some people, traditional therapy  really isn't the best solution.  What ultimately got me happy and healthy was to rediscover my element and stick with it until I started feeling better about myself and my life.  It could be fishing, spending time with your family, anything really.. just as long as it's enough to encourage you to rededicate yourself to your own life and personal happiness. 

I think also when you really want to be sober thats what could lead you to sobriety. Dedicating yourself with something you really want. And that could be achieved with no therapy at all as long as there is enough determination and a loooot of really hard work.

But I do agree with you, therapy could be anything you trully enjoy. Its what will make you happy, forget some problems and is just overall great for you!

I think we sometimes get so busy with our lives, that we forget how important it is to do things for ourselves.  Otherwise it's easy to lose your own personal identity, and you just turn into something that you would've never wanted for yourself.  This happened to me a few months ago, I was just going and going and I never made time for myself.  If I was with friends, I was doing it for them and not for me.. or if I was with my girlfriend, I was doing it for her and not for me.  I felt like I was trying to make everyone else happy and I forgot about myself.  At this point, everything is just a bunch of random events, and then you have to stop and think, what am I really doing?  Once in a while you have to take a step back and ask yourself if what you're doing is worth it and if it's really making you happy.  If not, then it's time to make some changes. 

I've been stressing out a lot lately, over a cornucopia of things. I'm always busy, I'm either at work, or at college, or studying, or cleaning. Yesterday I had no classes, I had the whole day free, I didn't have anything planned like I normally would on the weekends. I stayed in comfortable sweats ALL day! I ran a few errands then spent a few hours relaxing at home. I felt great! I had so many things bothering me and on my mind the day before and they all went away! Maybe if someone does that every once in a while it is also considered a therapy. It really helped me out.

I think that simply talking about situations or stressful things going on can be good therapy.  It makes no sense to hold something inside.. there will be no end.  You have to be proactive in taking care of personal issues, or else they'll keep coming up.  There's no reason to be unhappy and completely stressed out about life.  I always feel a lot better when talking to a friend or loved one.  Sometimes traditional therapy can make issues bigger than they really are.  There's occasions when people talk too much about one subject.. it can turn people pessimistic.

Sometimes for me talking about things makes it harder. If I talk to just one person about it then I feel much better, but I'm the type of person who believes that when taking others advise that taking a few peoples advise is better than just one. If something is really bothering me and I keep talking about it to people I just keep talking about it I keep reminding myself of the problem and I keep feeling worse where if I didn't talk about it I wouldn't be thinking about it and I would feel a bit happier for those moments. There was something that was really bothering me and still is for the past few days. I talked to a few people about it but it just made me feel worse. But one of my best friends came into town and she's like an older sister to me, I told her about it and I just let it all out and let my self cry, and although she didn't advise me anything like my other friends had I felt so much better. I love that I'm able to talk to her about everything and anything and that I can cry to her without feeling stupid.

  I often feel worse when talking to other people, unless it's one of my parents, but even then they can misunderstand where I'm coming from.  It seems like they're always trying to make a life lesson out of every situation.  But I only go talk to them after I've sat and thought about the situation, came up with a few solutions, and then talk them over with someone.  Approaching a situation with anger, sadness, or whatever isn't a good way to go about anything.  And I think it's best to stick with 1 or 2 people.  Otherwise, you're not going to be able to explain the entire situation to multiple people, you're just going to end up with a bunch of people asking you later about the situation and you'll have to explain it all over again. 

I think it can be hard for people to find exactly works for them. I personally don't care which method is used as long as it's safe and works for that person.