Five Reasons you need a Therapist
Hi this is Maureen French. I’m going to talk to you a little bit about why I think people need a therapist. I will give you five reasons why you might need to see a therapist.
One of the reasons is that you can’t discuss everything with family and friends. There are certain things that are more private that require someone else for you to discuss. Sometimes our family and friends get a little tired of us talking about our problems and issues that are happening. To be able to talk to a therapist allows you to have an opportunity to discuss a problem without judgment, opinion and an opportunity to explore solutions to the problem in a nonjudgmental environment.
The second reason is sometimes the people that you usually go to talk about problems are part of the problem. For example, a spouse you are having a difficulty in a relationship can often be the person who you might go and talk about personal problems. Can you talk to them about affairs? They can’t be the person you’re talk to when you want to talk about how you had an affair and feel guilty about doing it. That wouldn’t be something that you would want to talk to your spouse or maybe even share with your best friend because there’s a judgment that comes from others.
Another example might be if your partner has had enough and wants to end the relationships. You share that with your best friend and suddenly goes through all your family and friends. This is not to say best friends are not trustworthy, but sometimes problems are overwhelming, and it gets shared with others. Next you are experiencing people judge you about it. Perhaps, you get shunned from people at church for wanting to end your relationship or funny looks from someone at the grocery store. You may have people who will be there for you and not share your secrets. There are certain things that we don’t want to discuss with friends, but we want to talk to someone about it. That’s a perfect. Therapist allows you to have the space to talk about your problems.
The third reason is therapy allows you to clarify the problem and solution through questions. Through therapy you can sound out what is going on for you with someone who is an expert in therapy and problems people encounter. For instance, I talk to lots of people with anxiety. Often people will attend sessions and they’ll talk to me about their anxiety. They’re often thinking it’s just them and I’m able to reassure them that they are not the only one. That it is anxiety. A lot of what their experiences is anxiety or what they’re experiencing is very similar to other people. That’s allows you to get some clarification. Also allows exploration of your problems to come up with a solution. A therapist will also help you come up with some solutions that have worked for other people in the past.
The fourth reason is If you’re having difficult problem it helps you by finding meaning within the problem of why these issues are showing up for you. It gives you some clarification about certain events happening for you in your life. Through therapy you can explore the problem and maybe realize you are not the problem. Sometimes people will do what is often referred to “Gaslighting” where they turn it around so you feel like you are the cause of the problem. Through therapy you can unpack the problem and find a solution.
Fifth reason: Therapy gives you some specialized help so for instance I work with lots of problems so I might have a little bit more knowledge I believe then maybe your family or your friends about trauma and relationships for instance. I also have some specialized training and things like EMDR so other things like that therapists often specialize in and they can help you get through problem with quicker. EMDR is a technique that’s used with people with trauma it can be all used with other problems. It works quicker without the person exploring their trauma event by details. It helps the brain reframe the trauma and file it. To be able to have a tool like EMDR to work through the problem. For people who trauma they work through trauma a lot quicker using EMDR or other techniques therapists are trained to use. Most therapist train to work on techniques to help their client move through problems quickly. One of the reasons, therapy takes a long time is the problem has ingrained its way into the client’s life and weaved its way through the person’s life.
The bonus reason: Therapy provides way to get repairs to relationships that are becoming bogged down with the problem. Relationships have away of personalizing problems that make it difficult to repair the problems that are causing difficulties. It is rarely about the problem, but how we are feeling emotionally about our relationship.
Whether you repair a relationship you or learn how to manage mental health, you will learn new tools to help with coping strategies. The beauty of therapy is a therapist is doing the work of finding ways that work to help problems like anxiety and depression. If you are feeling overwhelmed by your problems, then finding a solution can be difficult as you cannot see past the problem. Therapy identifies ways to help with trauma and feeling overwhelmed by the impact of triggers of trauma. Through self care and new coping strategies, most people learn new ways to navigate their way through problems.
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MAUREEN FRENCH IS A REGISTERED CLINICAL COUNSELLOR IN ABBOTSFORD AND MISSION, BC. SHE WORKS WITH CHILDREN, TEENS AND ADULTS IN INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING. SHE HAS COMPLETED TRAINING IN EMOTIONALLY FOCUSED THERAPY FOR COUPLES AND GOTTMAN COUPLE THERAPY. MAUREEN IS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF BC PLAY THERAPY ASSOCIATION AND BC ASSOCIATION OF CLINICAL COUNSELLORS.