River: Rubber Duck Therapy

I mentioned rubber ducks in yesterday's Thankful Thursday. Here, lightly edited, is something I wrote on 7Cups.com, inspired by Rubber Duck Debugging – Debugging software with a rubber ducky:

Well, there are two different kinds of problems. There are the problems that you can't solve without specialized information or skills that you simply have no way of knowing. And then there are the problems that you actually can solve -- you have all the facts -- but you're missing that one key insight that makes the solution obvious. You're just about to turn the last page in the book, you know everything the detective knows, but you're still baffled.

The best way to tell which is which is to explain the problem in excruciating detail. Whether it's to a therapist, a friend, a 7cups listener, your cat, or a rubber duck doesn't matter, but it's easier to find a rubber duck. If you get to a point where you can say to yourself "oh... right... of course!" you have a problem of the second kind. If you don't, you need to put your rubber duck back in the bathtub and explain your problem to a human who knows more than you do about that kind of problem, or can refer you to someone who does.

That usually means a therapist; but a good listener may be able to come up with questions that point you toward a solution. A rubber duck is a little limited in that respect. But treating your journal as a rubber duck will give you a good description of the problem that you can hand to a therapist, which will save a lot of time.