Why I Decided to Start Psychoeducation

I always believed I was someone who could handle everything on my own. I thought that was simply who I was — that you just have to grit your teeth and keep going. For a long time, that’s exactly how I lived.

But at some point, I reached a wall where I felt that something wasn’t right inside me. I couldn’t understand why I struggled to make certain decisions, or why different situations in my life overwhelmed me so deeply. I had one very strong thought in my mind — that if I didn’t change something, if I didn’t seek help, I would simply lose my mind.

Today I understand that it wasn’t that something was wrong with me as a person. I was simply missing certain emotional skills and awareness that I should have had as an adult.

The Moment That Changed Everything

The most difficult moment in my life was my daughter Karolina’s suicide attempt. That moment stopped me completely.

My husband and I have three daughters, and each of them is completely different — different temperaments, different personalities, and different environments. Yet I noticed one thing they all had in common. All of them allowed people to cross their boundaries. They wanted very much to be liked, and they often opened themselves to others at the cost of their own well-being.

Karolina was heavily bullied at school. Some of the things that happened sound almost unbelievable today — someone would put razor blades into her backpack, someone else would slip pills into her food. All of this led her to a moment when she tried to take her own life.

Fortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful.

That was the moment when I asked myself a very difficult question: if three very different children struggle with a similar problem, maybe something was wrong in what I had taught them about the world.

The First Steps

A good friend was the one who encouraged me to start psychoeducation sessions. She recommended Regina and said something I remember very clearly: that when I met her, I would feel as if a huge stone had fallen off my back.

At first I thought — what stone? I’m managing just fine.

Only later did I understand how wrong I was.

The first meeting was very stressful for me. I was afraid because I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what a conversation with a stranger could possibly change. I was also afraid of something else — that if I really started this process, I would actually have to change something in my life.

Regina is not someone who simply comforts you and tells you what you want to hear. Very quickly I understood that if I wanted to benefit from psychoeducation, I had to genuinely be willing to work on myself.

How It Changed Me and My Family Life

Today, when I look at myself from a few years ago, I see a completely different person.

Back then I was approaching forty and thought I already knew everything about myself. But psychoeducation changed not only me — it changed our entire family life.

I changed as a mother.
I changed as a partner.
I changed as a human being.

At home we started talking about emotions, about boundaries, and about what we feel and what we need.

I see an enormous change in my daughters. Karolina, who had attempted suicide, also began receiving psychological support. She was in middle school at the time, and today she is preparing for her final exams.

She still continues this process, although less frequently now. What is very important to me is that she is not ashamed of it. Quite the opposite. She encourages her friends who are going through difficult situations at home to seek help as well.

Who Regina Is to Me as a Mentor and Teacher

Regina is an absolutely exceptional person to me. I have never met anyone like her in my life.

She is not someone who only says pleasant things. She calls things by their real names.

Sometimes I left our sessions feeling upset or shaken because I heard things that were difficult and uncomfortable. But over time I understood that this was exactly what I needed.

Regina has the ability to ask one simple question that suddenly makes everything fall into place in your mind.

Thanks to her, I understood many things about myself — including that I grew up in a household with alcoholism and that I had learned to satisfy other people’s needs at the expense of my own.

The most important thing she taught me was how to set boundaries.

And there is one sentence that often comes back to me in life:

“Let people live the way they want — but protect yourself.”

What I Would Say to People Who Are Hesitating About Starting Psychoeducation

If someone is wondering whether they should begin psychoeducation, I would say one thing — you truly lose nothing by trying.

Sometimes simply saying your problem out loud is already half the journey toward solving it.

I like to compare it to programming, which I once studied. When you are able to clearly name a problem and say it out loud, suddenly you start to see the solution.

And when there is someone next to you who has the knowledge and knows how to ask the right questions, the process becomes even more possible.

For me, psychoeducation was one of the most important decisions in my life.

I don’t know where I would be today if I hadn’t started this process. I think I would be a very unhappy person.

Today I know that it is possible to live differently — more calmly, more consciously, and with greater respect for yourself.