The Secret to Strong Mental Health (Part 1)

(Based on Michael Alexiuk’s Book - Power Therapy)

I discovered this book almost 30 years ago and it completely changed my life.

It also indirectly presents what's wrong with the entire mental health system.

We’ve been told a lie about our mental health—that it’s about “managing symptoms,” “practicing self-care,” and “being kind to yourself.” That’s not strength. That’s survival. And survival is not the same thing as healing.

Michael Alexiuk’s Power Therapy cuts through the noise with one brutally honest truth:

The only way to build strong mental health is by doing hard things that matter.

In other words, personal power isn’t something you meditate into existence. You have to earn it—by facing discomfort, setting meaningful goals, and proving to yourself, over and over, that you can do hard things.

The Power Equation: Difficult + Relevant + Achievable = Strength

Let’s break that down. According to Power Therapy, the secret formula for building real psychological strength is this:

• Difficult – It has to stretch you. No growth without friction.

• Relevant – It must matter to you. No more chasing someone else’s version of success.

• Achievable – You have to believe, deep down, that you can do it—if you try.

This is how personal power grows. You don’t get stronger by staying comfortable. You get stronger by doing things that scare you a little but mean something a lot.

Power Can’t Be Given to You—You Have to Generate It

Alexiuk’s whole framework rejects the idea that you can be given confidence, resilience, or healing. You can’t download it. You can’t be prescribed it. You have to generate it—by picking a hard thing, doing the work, and surviving the stretch.

That’s the antidote to anxiety. That’s the way out of depression. Not wishful thinking. Not chemical numbing. Not someone else telling you you’re “doing great.”

You need evidence from your own life that you’re powerful. That comes from doing.

And this is where the mental health system falls drastically short - no one is pushed, challenged, or expected to do the hard work. We are treated like weak, fragile children. Thus, we never get much better.

If It’s Easy, It’s Not Healing

Let’s be blunt: if your mental health routine never scares you, challenges you, or pushes your limits, it’s not working. You’re not building strength. You’re just treading water.

The people with the strongest mental health aren’t the ones who have been coddled, rescued, or fixed. They’re the ones who’ve struggled through meaningful challenges and come out the other side with proof of their own competence.

Power Therapy is clear on this: you don’t find yourself—you forge yourself.

So What Does This Actually Look Like?

• Going back to school when the shame says you’re too old

• Ending a toxic relationship even when you feel like you’ll fall apart

• Applying for the job you think you’re not good enough for

• Confronting someone who hurt you, not to hurt them back—but to stand in your truth

• Creating something—art, a business, a life—that you believe in, even if no one else does yet

That’s what builds strong mental health. Not talking about your feelings forever. Not hiding behind diagnoses. Not waiting for the “right time.”

Power is built. Earned. Reclaimed. And the currency is action.

Final Word:

If you’re stuck in therapy loops, numbing routines, or helpless self-concepts, Power Therapy is the slap in the face you might need. It doesn’t tell you to be nicer to yourself—it dares you to trust yourself. And it teaches you how to get that trust back:

One hard, relevant, achievable goal at a time.