The Benefits of Therapy
Psychotherapy can provide you with the necessary support and skills to overcome the challenges you face. Therapy can assist you in identifying and taking action to change what no longer works in your life, as well as helping you accept and process the things in your life that you cannot change.
Many studies have shown that evidence-based psychotherapy is an effective form of treating and managing a number of psychological disorders and other emotional or behavioural difficulties. While therapy can be time consuming and expensive, it can also provide lasting gains. Time-limited therapy (of between 6-24 sessions) for a number of disorders has been shown to have lasting effects over 2 years after therapy has ended. In this way, the skills you will be learning are ones that will help you throughout your life, and that you will learn to use yourself during times of increased stressors. In this way, you learn to be “your own therapist”.
How does therapy help?
The experience of seeing a therapist is different from most other personal and health care interactions. While doctors and nurses may be more limited in the amount of time they can spend with you and need to focus only on one or a few issues, a therapist has more time to spend over multiple sessions to develop a more holistic understanding of your experiences and difficulties. And unlike talking to some friends or family members, whatever you say to your therapist is confidential, and received by someone who is nonjudgmental and dedicated to finding ways to support you.
If you are experiencing symptoms of a psychological disorder, therapy can provide you specific skills and ways of dealing with situations you may not have been aware of before. Therapy can also provide you support and help you work through life changes. Your therapy will be personalized to your specific difficulties and situation.
Skills therapy can provide:
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Distress tolerance skills: short-term skills to help in the moment when your emotional and physical experiences feel overwhelming. These skills aren’t meant to be used long-term, but can be helpful in getting through crisis situations.
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Emotion regulation skills: learning how to identify which emotions you are feeling, why you are feeling them, and how to manage them effectively.
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Mindfulness skills: learning how to live in the present moment, in a non-judgmental way, without being caught up in worries about the future or thoughts about the past.
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Interpersonal effectiveness skills: learning how to communicate with others in a way that is more likely to help you be understood and have your goals met.
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Cognitive challenges: these skills help you identify maladaptive thought patterns and faulty thinking that can result in increased negative emotions that lead you to act in ways that aren’t helpful to your long-term goals. These challenges aren’t meant to make you “think positively” or “have no fears”, but instead to be able to have a more accurate view of your life so you can take actions based on facts, not fictions that your mind has created.
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Stress-management techniques: these skills can help you through everyday stressors at work, school, with your friends or family.
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Problem solving skills: these skills are meant to help you take action addressing for you to enact when you encounter issues which may with problems you may have been avoiding or which feel unmanageable.
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Understanding your own skills, strengths, and positive attributes: you may be surprised by how many skills you actually have! Sometimes skills that have been helpful in one area in your life, like parenting, can actually be helpful in other areas, like work.