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In therapy and counseling, a trained mental health professional helps find an appropriate solution to an emotional or behavioral concern. There are many reasons that can hold people back from seeking therapy. It is a common misconception that one has to face a condition or undergo a problem or harbor some disorder to see a therapist. In fact, therapy is for everyone because it is natural for us at times to be a little confused or anxious about or be challenged by problems in our relationships, career, health, and so on. The goal of therapy is self-knowledge and self-reliance. By talking to someone who listens to you very carefully and objectively, you come to deeper insights about yourself.
Why Therapist and Not Friends/Family?
There are no fixed requirements to seek therapy, except being a thinking, feeling human being. However, there is the question of speaking to a complete stranger. Would you be comfortable telling an unfamiliar person across the table about your deepest concerns, worries, and desires? Would talking to friends be a better option? Friends and family offer a great deal of support, but they may not be professionally trained to understand thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. There is also a probability that they might not analyze dispassionately or could add their anxieties and worries. Therapists, on the other hand, are nonjudgmental.
How Does Therapy Work?
Therapy isn't always about moving forward to reach a better place. Most often its about stopping, stabilizing, going back, working through stuff that is still painful, and then walking forward to where you started. The aim is to see the present circumstances and experiences through a clearer lens.
To understand how therapy works, it is important to know what it isn't. It’s not just about venting and talking about your problems. Your mental health professional will work with you on your goals and needs to reach solutions. He/she does not tell you what you should be doing. Many people expect that the therapist will provide them with ready-made solutions, but that is never the case.
One Step at a Time
For the first session, your psychologist might ask you to arrive a bit early so you can complete the paperwork.
It's typical to be anxious or awkward during the first few sessions. Don't worry, once the session begins, you won't be overwhelmed. Psychologists are adept at establishing the setting and getting things going. They have received training to effectively lead each session so you can get closer to your objectives. It can even appear like a game of 20 questions in the first session.
Your psychologist may begin by acknowledging how brave it is to begin psychotherapy when they are face to face with you. Additionally, he or she could discuss practical issues like costs and how to schedule other sessions.
Following that, the psychologist may ask, "What brought you here today?" or "What motivated you to choose this time as opposed to a month or year ago?" Even if you are unsure of its cause or your best course of action, it still helps to recognize your issue. For instance, you could experience emotions like anger or sadness without being aware of what's making you feel that way or how to get over it. Psychologists will not pressure you to share more information than you are comfortable revealing until you have gotten to know each other better if the issue is too unpleasant to discuss. This session helps you to build rapport with your therapist and then you start digging deeper.
Types of Therapy
Depending on the number of individuals working with a therapist, psychotherapy can be broadly divided into two categories:
Individual Therapy
Individual therapy can be your path to wellness. The goal of individual therapy is to develop healthier coping skills and mechanisms that can help you work through what's keeping you from feeling your best. After a couple of sessions, when you think that this is a relationship that will work for you, both of you will start working toward treatment goals.
Group Therapy
Group therapy is when more than one person is receiving treatment at the same time from at least one therapist. There may be multiple therapists in some groups. Depending on the type of therapy, group sizes change. Couple therapy, for instance, is a sort of group therapy that primarily treats romantic partners. Other groups, however, such as substance abuse groups, may have 10 to 12 members in a single session. Researchers who examine the efficacy of group therapy often advise 6 to 12 participants per session.
Takeaway
Therapy is valuable because so many of our problems come down to not having an insight into how our minds work: What do we want? What do we fear? Why do we act the way we do? Learning how to live better is not instinctive; it's not something we were born with. It is a skill and one place where we can learn this is in the therapy room. Psychotherapy is not for any particular group of individuals and has shown effectiveness for many individuals.
