Psychotherapy: The courage to seek help
Psychotherapy: choosing empowerment over shame
Going to therapy is often a decision made with distrust, almost with shame. The stigma regarding mental health services is pervasive and keeps many from obtaining care.
Our culture shapes us into who we are, but it shouldn’t define how we care for ourselves! Our mental health matters.
Continue reading to learn more about psychotherapy and how it can be an effective way to care for yourself naturally.
Starting psychotherapy
Unfortunately, our culture continues to believe that a person suffering psychologically is inadequate somehow. Maybe you’ve heard or thought:
“Go to a psychologist? For what? I’m not crazy?!”
“You want to contact a therapist? Umm, maybe you should talk about it with a friend.”
“Start psychotherapy? Don’t worry, everything passes!”
“Come on; you’ll see that things settle themselves.”
“Maybe you need to pray more.”
“Do like I do, and fake it ‘til you make it!”
We hear these phrases from our loved ones and tell them to ourselves. These thoughts and comments are unhelpful and create more mental health problems. They serve us poorly rather than helping us well. What would it be like if we were to release the stigma of seeking help for our wellness?
Our thoughts, feelings, and experiences are valid. Seeking psychotherapy helps manage these realities. Therapy often leads to self-discovery that can have powerful effects on us and those around us.
Too often, we underestimate apparent signs, or we prefer to give up for fear of sharing emotions or being judged. Thinking this way keeps us stuck.
Seeking therapy offers an opportunity to not live with depression and anxieties. Psychotherapeutic support provides a chance to process, overcome, heal, and thrive!
When to start psychotherapy?
Realizing that our body needs a doctor is quite simple; knowing when our psyche needs help is more complicated.
Everyone in life happens to have setbacks, periods in which we feel inadequate, helpless, and distressed.
It is advisable to start psychotherapy when:
The malaise interferes with our daily chores.
When we find it difficult to concentrate, work or feel good with loved ones.
We feel particularly worried or sad, have low motivation, or maybe we have inexplicable behaviors.
We avoid situations or places out of fear that they may create profound discomfort (take a plane, go to crowded places, participate in a task alone).
Psychological distress originating from particular events (a bereavement, a separation, or an unexpected change) continues over time, and it is no longer possible to rationalize it.
We want to continue to be well and need additional support.
These type of ailments recur
Day or night panic attacks or states of acute anxiety or distress
Difficulty sleeping
Frequent mood shifts
Angry outbursts
Fatigue
Weight loss or weight gain
Poor concentration or memory loss
Why go to a psychotherapist?
Psychotherapy is a science that allows us to understand ourselves better and improve our relationship with ourselves and others.
Asking for help does not mean admitting defeat, quite the opposite. Starting psychotherapy means having the courage to question oneself to understand one's discomforts and demonstrate that you want to get better. Asking for help means being brave enough to say, “I want to be better, change, and be ready to get out of my comfort zone and face my problems.”
Psychotherapy is a process of self-discovery and personal growth. People who have experienced therapy understand this. It is not a punishment but rather a rewarding path.
It is a path that numerous researchers have shown to be very effective. Today, studies record the effectiveness of psychotherapies even using variations in the connections between the brain's nerve cells. Psychotherapy produces a "change" in ourselves, a change that also has a neurophysiological response (and they are not "just words").
Starting psychotherapy requires a significant contribution from the client. One of the most critical factors in the success of the therapy is the ability to create a good relationship between the psychotherapist and the client, called a therapeutic alliance. Make sure you rely on a psychotherapist you trust, someone who makes you feel comfortable, and that you are ready to open yourself up to them to explore your true self and find your path towards healing.
Through the therapeutic alliance, you will know each other better, identify and capitalize on your resources, and deal more adequately with your tensions, unhappiness, and insecurity.
Therapy is a path of self-discovery and awareness, which requires courage and determination. The first and most crucial step is to seek a therapist to walk alongside you.
Asili Wellness is here for you! If you’re struggling emotionally and need help, please reach out! Psychotherapy can be transformative and life-changing.
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Peace & Wellness, Dr. Nicole
