DO I REALLY NEED THERAPY? ( I CAN USUALLY HANDLE MY OWN PROBLEMS! )
Everyone goes through challenging situations in life, and while you may have successfully navigated through other difficulties you've faced, there's nothing wrong with seeking out extra support when you need it. In fact, therapy is for people who have enough self-awareness to realize they need a helping hand, and that is something to be admired. You are taking responsibility by accepting where you're at in life and making a commitment to change the situation by seeking therapy. Therapy provides long-lasting benefits and support, giving you the tools you need to avoid triggers, re-direct damaging patterns, and overcome whatever challenges you face.
WHY DO PEOPLE GO TO THERAPY--HOW DO I KNOW IF IT'S RIGHT FOR ME?
People have many different motivations for coming to psychotherapy. Some may be going through a major life transition (unemployment, divorce, new job, etc.), or are not handling stressful circumstances well. Some people need assistance managing a range of other issues such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, addictions, relationship problems, spiritual conflicts and creative blocks. Therapy can help provide some much needed encouragement and help with skills to get them through these periods. Others may be at a point where they are ready to learn more about themselves or want to be more effective with their goals in life. In short, people seeking psychotherapy are ready to meet the challenges in their lives and ready to make changes in their lives.
WHAT IS THE THERAPY EXPERIENCE LIKE--
WHAT DOES THE CLIENT DO IN PSYCHOTHERAPY?
Once you decide that you have found a therapist that may be able to guide you through unexplored territory in your life,
the work can begin.
What do you do next?
Your primary responsibility in psychotherapy is to work toward becoming more aware of your experiences, thoughts, feelings, and memories, and to talk about them during the therapy session. The awareness may be about any aspect of your present or past life. It may be about the therapy or the therapist, about night dreams, daydreams and fantasies. It may be about hopes, joys, sorrows, fears, and relationships-anything that may come to mind during the session. Although people new to psychotherapy often try to "prepare" for therapy sessions by creating an agenda or deciding in advance what to talk about, they end up trusting that the process itself will bring to mind highly useful material. Sometimes it is the sequence of topics that are mentioned or the recall of events that appear to have been "forgotten" that provide important clues to what is going on for you below the surface. It may take time for you to feel convinced that your therapist is vitally interested in hearing about your ordinary as well as unusual experiences, and that she or he will not be judgmental or shaming no matter what you reveal or talk about.It is sometimes particularly useful to report and talk about uncomfortable feelings such as anger and disappointment, dreams,or feelings of warmth or longing. Feelings that arise in a psychotherapy session may also have been an important part of relationships with important people in your past and can be linked to important memories--it's then becomes the therapist's role to encourage you to talk freely about this.
The process of revealing thoughts and experiences that are uncomfortable, painful, or laden with shame or guilt is important in the course of therapy. Indeed, simply talking at length about the details of such experiences in the presence of someone who is interested and empathic tends to be helpful, since it reduces the degree to which you feel alone in the experience or ashamed of some aspect of it. Revealing positive experiences or points of pride and delight is important as well.
americanmentalhealth.com
