190 Harwood Avenue S, Ajax, ON L1S 2H6
Unpacking the Mystery: What Therapy is for and Why You Should Consider It
Life comes with challenges and daily stresses and sometimes we don’t know how to cope with these challenges when they impact our mental health and well-being. Therapy is an option that is available to us and yet, many people still do not have a clear understanding of what it means to be in therapy and what therapy is for. A common misconception is that one needs to be in crisis before seeking help but this is not the case, as we will see later on.
Do I need therapy?
You may be experiencing emotional difficulties (e.g. stress, anxiety, moving on from a separation or divorce, dealing with grief or difficult relationships) or maladaptive ways of thinking or behaving (e.g. overthinking, intrusive or negative thoughts, risky behaviours or social withdrawal etc.). If you feel you are struggling with emotional difficulties and experiencing distress which interferes with your quality of life, therapy may be the place for you.
Research indicates that therapy can improve mental health conditions and has a better prognosis than being treated with medication alone. What does this mean? This means that although mental health medications may reduce symptoms of mental health conditions, speaking to a therapist teaches people tools and coping skills to learn to manage their stress, anxiety or depressive symptoms.
Misconceptions about Therapy
Some of the common misconceptions about seeing a therapist is that going to therapy means that we are weak or ‘crazy’. This is not the case. Anyone can benefit from therapy as all human beings struggle in life, at one time or another. Connecting with a mental health professional offers us tools to manage these struggles and difficulties.
Another misconception is that therapists prescribe medications that will ‘fix’ us. Therapists do not prescribe medications but offer a place to work through your struggles. Psychiatrists are the ones who prescribe medications and they also diagnose people according to the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Typically, more serious mental health disorders (e.g. additions, personality disorders, clinical depression etc.) may necessitate psychiatric interventions.
Some people also ask why they need to pay someone to listen to them, as they could talk to their friends instead. True, having a support network can be helpful but our friends do not necessarily have the understanding or training required to supporting you through mental health challenges. This is what a therapist can offer.
Types of Therapy
There are also many different types of approaches that are out there. And this can be confusing for people who want to try therapy but have no idea what to look for and how to go about it. This is where it is important to explore what each type of therapy, or what each approach, offers and whether this is what you are looking for. So, if therapy is something you would like to try, check out your potential therapist’s training or approach in order to get a better understanding of what to expect.
Some of the main approaches can be summarized as follows:
- Psychoanalytic therapies – these types of approaches are interested in childhood and those subconscious conflicts you experienced back then and that are showing up in your current struggles. These types of therapies work on uncovering clients’ subconscious motivations, which typically result from conflicts in childhood, and in analysing and interpreting what they mean.
- Cognitive therapies - this type of approach specifically targets the way we think and aims to replace those dysfunctional thoughts or beliefs that we hold, in favour of more realistic thoughts or way of thinking. For example, some people may think “I am unlovable”. The intervention in cognitive therapies is to assess the validity of such beliefs and require clients to conduct ‘homework’ in their daily life to test these assumptions or maladaptive beliefs.
- Behavioural therapies - as the name indicates, these types of therapies focus on the way that we behave in our lives. And the therapist’s interventions will aim to change these maladaptive or unhealthy behaviours in favour of more adaptive, or healthier, ways of behaving. For example, if anytime you are stressed, you reach for fast food you may want work on trying to replace this ‘go to’ behaviour by healthier behaviours. This is what can be addressed in therapy with a behavioural therapist.
- Humanistic therapies – these types of approaches are interested in the whole of the human being and are more relational in nature. The therapist will be interested in looking at what is happening in clients’ lives and what is bringing you to therapy, and the work with consist in identifying any thoughts, emotions or patterns that keep us stuck.
These are many more approaches that are prevalent nowadays but these approaches listed above are some of the more common ones. They all have a similar goal which is to reduce distress and enhance psychological well-being. In other words, therapy aims to offer healthier ways to cope and to make us more well-adjusted human beings.
Benefits of Therapy
In therapy, clients get an objective perspective from someone who can help us understand our own patterns of though and/or behaviour as well as an understanding of why we do the things we do. We are able to learn about coping strategies – such as grounding or relaxation tools, stress, anxiety or anger management strategies, how to work with grief etc.
Therapy is also a place where clients can work on their self-care, social or communication skills. As mentioned earlier on, every aspect of our lives may be explored – i.e. in relation to our relationships, our partnerships or children, our job or our emotions.
Therapy can also help us create healthier habits or simply provide emotional support. Therapy may not work for everyone and for therapy to be ‘successful’, clients need to want to do the work and to commit to doing the work. Also, for therapy to be successful, it is important to ensure that there is a good fit between therapist and client. It is important for clients to feel comfortable working with someone who they feel ‘gets’ them. We offer a free 15-minute chat to help you decide if we are the right fit for you. You can schedule one by clicking here. Hope to talk soon.
Change your life in time with
In Time Counselling & Consulting Services
Helping you address burnout, live your values & achieve work-life balance
Explore
HOURS
Tuesday: 8 AM – 6:30 PM
Wednesday: 8 AM – 6:30 PM
Thursday: 8 AM – 6:30 PM
Contact
Address: Unit 9 - 190 Harwood Avenue S,
Ajax, Ontario, L1S 2H6
I’m located in the Work Hub. Please sign in as a visitor on the tablet at reception and I will come get you at your appointment time.
Phone: (289) 536-4995
Email: info@intimecounselling.com
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
©2024 In Time Counselling and Consulting Services | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Cookie Policy