With upcoming awareness about mental illness, we are trying to understand the importance of mental health. However, in order to be completely well, we must also focus on the healing aspect. While many people associate therapy or counselling with people who are suffering from mental illness, the truth is different. Overwhelming stress, problems in relationships, family issues, etc can be too much to handle. Instead of being bottled up about your struggles, it is best to seek help. Unlike popular notion, psychotherapy comes in different shapes and sizes. They help us control our lives better. Today, we will cover all the aspects of Psychotherapy and bust some myths.
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What is Psychotherapy?
Psychological treatment of any behavior disorders, mental illness, and any condition which can cause distress are Psychotherapy. No, it is not your friend advising you. Psychotherapists use insights, suggestions, reassurance, and instructions to help their patients. Then, patients can see problems from a realistic point of view. As we said, it can range from dealing with life-changing situations to mental illness to behavior disorders.
What are its types?
Treatments are usually catered to individuals. One session can last from forty-five to sixty minutes. While there are many more types, these are most commonly used Psychotherapy techniques :
Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapies
It makes you aware of subconscious behaviors. It often helps you identify unconscious thoughts and patterns. You can reduce or change things that influence your daily life. For instance, childhood experiences often shape who we are as an adult. The unconscious brain is powerful and affects our emotions and behavior. It makes sense why we would start from scratch.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT)
It helps you identify negative patterns, beliefs, and behaviors. You can replace them with positive patterns and behaviors. Also, it can help you in handling your stress, symptoms, and emotions. CBT leads you to thoughts or trama behind these, and you can change them. For instance, if you have an anxiety disorder, CBT helps you find your episodes of anxiety and stimulus associated with it.
Inter-Personal Psychotherapy(IPT)
As the name suggests, Inter-Personal Psychotherapy deals with the personal relationship of the client with their family, friends, colleagues, etc. It evaluates your relationships and the concerns with it. Therapy helps you to restructure or resolve the conflict. IPT helps people with depression. It makes them aware of how they interact with their loved ones. This is continued along with medication.
Myths and Misconceptions
Therapy is only for people with mental illness.
As we said earlier, it is also used for people with disorders and stressful situations. Therapy’s goal is to help you rearrange your thoughts and patterns. Mental illness is not the only case when you should seek help. Such myths devoids a person from seeking help and make them feel worse about their condition. If you have stress about whether you should change your career or not, a professional’s help will let you see the reason behind your choices. Whether reasons are valid from a real-world perspective or how you can transition without losing motivation, etc.
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Therapy is too expensive and takes forever.
Unlike movies, it is not possible to change your lifelong patterns overnight. Like any craving, your mind will run towards old habits, thought patterns. Therapy helps you at every step of your problem. If you are working on your eating disorder. While you manage to stay in control for two-to-three months. Soon you encountered a stressful situation. There is a chance that you will revert back to your old habits for comfort. This is where therapy comes into play. While cost can be high, different plans are available on Telehealth services. Also, you should understand that these are methods to improve your mental and emotional health.
Therapists are full of ready-made solutions.
While there are standard procedures to resolve conflict, the approach of each therapy is different. While some people are open about their issues and conflicts, some are too skeptical to open-up. Also, Therapy plans work according to how the client wants them to be. Many times you will restart until you do not lapse.
For instance, a patient who has suffered abuse might not feel comfortable speaking about it. They may have layers of insecurity, body image issues, self-harm thoughts. When a psychotherapist peels the layers of problems, it creates trust between client and doctor. As you can see, therapy needs different times and speeds for people.
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Psychotherapy is mostly just talking.
Understand this, Psychotherapists conduct therapies while psychiatrists prescribe medicines. A psychiatrist can also do therapy. However, the method involved in therapy is not just talking. It, with help of exercises and coping mechanisms, clients change their behaviors. For instance, a person who has an addiction needs medication and support therapy. While doctorings help in curbing them, therapy makes you recognize the triggers. It makes you more emotionally resilient to avoid substance abuse.
All therapists want to do is talk about your childhood.
While most of our beliefs and patterns reflect how we were treated as a child, it is not limited to childhood. Many issues that we face are often from adulthood. For instance, if you have relationship issues, your therapist will not focus on your early years. Its primary focus will be what both partners want in the relationship. The only time a therapist will ask questions about childhood is when your behavior resonates with some unresolved issues.
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Conclusion
Therapy turns you into someone else. You become more confident, relaxed, and self-aware. Therapy helps you understand your own self-worth and resolves self-doubts. While some cases require only therapy, some cases require both. The best way to understand is to consult a Psychotherapist. They can be individual or in groups. It is important to pay attention to your mental health as you move forward.
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