Picture a room with a large library and a futon couch that helps you speak your mind as though you drank Professor Snape’s truth serum. That’s not therapy!
Therapy is when you meet a counselor or a psychotherapist to resolve your problems by talking about them. It isn’t as simple as finding the solution by solving a math problem. It involves your subjective beliefs, ideas, feelings, and physical sensations: an amalgamation of what makes you, YOU.
Psychotherapy, commonly referred to as Therapy uses research-based techniques to help individuals build better routines or habits. It is a collaborative treatment between the individual and the psychologist. There are various kinds of therapeutic approaches that aid in the therapy process. A psychologist uses therapeutic techniques that help you by providing a safe, supportive, neutral, and non – judgemental environment where you can freely express your thoughts and feelings.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY
Most often, psychologists practice cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT which has been proven to be quite effective in treating and targeting various concerns. This form of therapy helps the individual recognize their thought and behavior patterns.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy focuses on identifying the automatic negative thoughts that lead to emotional difficulties. These automatic thoughts influence our moods and behavior, thereby leading to problems that result in various mental health concerns like anxiety and depression. CBT uses strategies that help the individual identify their automatic thinking patterns and helps them overcome these negative thoughts. Some strategies used include journaling, role play and relaxation techniques.
Figure-2: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
REASONS FOR THERAPY
You might be wondering why one needs therapy or what are some of the reasons why one seeks therapy or do I need therapy?
How many times have you felt like talking to somebody about how you feel?
How many times have felt negative and emotional but were unable to express yourself?
How many times have you hidden your sadness, pain, or anger because you could not express yourself under the circumstances?
How many times have you felt like shouting or screaming at the top of your lungs so that someone could hear you or your pain?
Seeking therapy isn’t only for people who have major mental or physical health concerns. It is also for those who want to share or vent their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It is for those who want to share their stories, for those who want someone to listen. Most of us were taught to keep our thoughts to ourselves, to not share how we truly feel. Most of us never worked through our problems, we just let them fade away, unresolved and hidden deep within us.
LEARN TO EXPRESS YOURSELF :
Not being able to express is the primary motive to seek therapy. Repressing your thoughts and feelings is bound to pop up one day or the other. Sometimes it surprises you when something that haunted you in the past, presents itself today out of nowhere!
We tend to pile things up like that one chair in your house that is a leaning tower of laundry! Do not pile up your emotions. They just linger for a long period, until one fine day you explode like a nuclear bomb!
Learning how to understand and process your emotions is very important rather than displacing them later on. Displacement of emotions refers to a psychological defense mechanism where an individual redirects their negative emotions onto another person. This person may appear less threatening, therefore expressing it becomes easier rather than to whom it was intended, due to the circumstances. Talking about your problems will also help you gain a new perspective on them. They may not seem as big of a problem anymore.
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS CAN BE DUE TO PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS :
Did you know that physical symptoms like headaches, stomach aches, excessive sweating, chest pains, and body pain, among many others, may also be caused because of psychological trauma? Disorders like anxiety and depression can also have severe physical manifestations that occur in the form of aches and pains. Some studies have shown that therapy can help alleviate certain physical illnesses. When individuals don’t express themselves, their thoughts and feelings get suppressed and often, and these suppressed emotions often manifest in the form of bodily changes.
THERAPY AND ITS LONG-TERM IMPACT :
Therapy addresses problems that dwell on the past as well as the present. By working on how past experiences have impacted your present, you also come to understand and accept the past. Therapy also provides tools and techniques for you to help resolve problems in the near future as well. Therapy helps one reflect upon the choices, the decisions, or even the subjective experiences one has had thereby helping them to work through their problems one step at a time. It is one hour that you as an individual spend for yourself to be better and to see better.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE, A NEW GOAL :
Therapy helps you prioritize your life goals by giving you a whole new perspective on your surroundings. It also helps you grow as a person by helping you understand the world around you. It helps you understand the process in which we as individuals process negative emotions or thoughts or feelings. Therapy also helps us understand how they may lead us to make assumptions about people or situations without getting them clarified. It provides us with tools and techniques that can be practically executed in order for us to resolve our problems.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE:
Another aspect of therapy is taking part in support groups. Sharing your problem with those who may have had similar experiences may help you gain a new perspective on your story. It helps give you a sense of assurance that everything is going to be alright.
In a nutshell, therapy will give you a safe space to talk about yourself, helping you open up to understand and build insight into your subjective struggles. Seeking therapy doesn’t mean you necessarily need to have a mental illness, it’s basically venting out or talking about your concerns to someone who is trained to help you resolve those problems.
