The Benefits of Therapy

For some of you the thought of therapy sounds embarrassing and awkward. It may make you feel uncomfortable or weak like “why do I need therapy?I can manage on my own” or “what does this person know that I don’t?”or”what happens when my coworkers find out I go to therapy”

First I want to say how much courage and strength it takes to make the decision to begin therapy. I know a lot of you really don’t want to go to therapy and that it embarrasses you. My advice is that when it comes to mental health(which is so important) swallow your pride and do whatever it takes to get healthy. Trying to solve your problems on your own may seem admirable, and require strong character but if you are unable to cope on your own(which a lot of people cannot cope on their own) you are going to damage your mental health and those you love and care about the most. For example you cannot save someone who is drowning if you do not first learn how to swim. If your loved one is hurting and you try to help when you are mentally unwell it’s like trying to save someone who is drowning when you don’t know how to swim. Now there are two people drowning instead of one who is drowning. In other words if you don’t take care of yourself you can’t take care of others. If you desire to help those you love and care about and have mental health issues you will be unable to assist them if you don’t first seek treatment for yourself. Mental health is very important I would argue even more important than physical health.

So now we understand that seeking therapy is not a sign of weakness it is a sign of strength, someone who seeks therapy is seeking the best interests not just for themselves but those he/she loves and cares about the most. He/she is also seeking health and health is very important to life and wellbeing. We also understand that in order to take care of others you must first take care of yourself.

So you’re ready to try therapy. What is therapy like? I have had 5 therapists in my life and years of therapy. A therapist is a professional listener. So if you like to talk about you than your gonna love therapy because its all about you. I would even compare therapy to getting a massage. A massage is relaxing and beneficial to your physical body and it is someone catering to your physical needs. Therapy can be very similar. The therapist is there to cater to your mental needs. Now to continue the massage analogy sometimes therapy can be like getting a deep tissue massage(which if you don’t know what that is, its when the masseuse uses strong pressure to relive body tension) a deep tissue massage can be painful just like a therapy session can be difficult if your talking about a something that is difficult for you to talk about(like a veteran recalling war stories, or recalling when you were bullied or abused by someone)  however just like after a deep tissue massage you feel great. The same can be true with therapy. You may be talking about something that is hard for you to talk about but once you get it out you will feel so much better I can guarantee you

Now if you’re expecting instant results you might be disappointed after your first session. When you begin therapy the first course of action is to build a relationship with your therapist, for them to get to know you and  for you to get comfortable sharing personal information with your therapist. Once you build a relationship with your therapist you will begin to have more beneficial sessions and your healing can truly begin.

So in my experience the benefits of therapy include mental well being, less stress from carrying around old psychological wounds and scars, more peace, more awareness of you are, to gain strategies to help cope with mental health issues and relief from repressed emotional trauma.