In the last post, I talked about the reason why you shouldn’t go to therapy. Well, now it is time for me to talk about the complete opposite. There are many reasons why you SHOULD go to therapy. In fact, I did say that therapy is a powerful tool and resource for people to use if they are experiencing problems with their mental health. If it wasn’t a valid and reliable resource, people wouldn’t go out of their way to look for it. Remember, the number of people with mental health issues are increasing each year. The people that go to therapy experiences benefits most of the time and can look past the potential negatives. That is really important if you’re looking to take care of yourself the best possible way. Without further a do, here is 5 benefits of going to therapy that might outweigh the negative.
It Actually Helps You
Let’s start off with one of the most obvious benefits of going to therapy, which is that it helps you. Now, I did talk about the effectiveness of therapy and how it is not worth it for some people in my last post. What I said was true, but not 100%. The reason I say this is because the effectiveness of therapy depends on a variety of factors. Some factors include: the type of therapist you have, the therapy approach that they decide for you, diagnosis that they give you after the initial session, etc. There are hundreds of factors, if not more, that come into play when trying to get help. You may not believe that your mental health issues can be fixed, but determined to find a solution. Therapy can be that guide to navigate you into the right path and find a solution.
I know I promote a lot of self care on my blog and on social media, but therapy can help make your self care process a lot faster than you trying many things on your own. In therapy, you try many techniques that might help your situation. Maybe you have depression or anxiety? The therapist creates a treatment plan specific to your mental health issues, with different self care methods you can try. This is like your manual or guide book to a better life. Who knew that was something that you could actually receive in life?
That’s something that you wouldn’t receive if you decided not to go to therapy. You could even use the techniques that you learned in therapy for other issues in your life. According to Lindsay Holmes from the Huffington Post, “Therapy is well-known for its problem-solving techniques and reputation as a tool for overcoming anxiety, depression and addiction.” This huge benefit actually leads me to my next benefit of going to therapy.
It Allows You To Help Others
Now this one may sound a bit confusing to you and you’re right. It is confusing when you think about it. You went to therapy, got a treatment plan, did some of the methods, and started to feel better right? Well, you can pass that knowledge and information to someone else. Maybe they are experiencing the same problems as you did when you went to therapy. Share with them some of the techniques you used in therapy. They might feel better after this, you never know. This isn’t a substitution for going to therapy, but it is a good way to help others that you see struggling with mental health issues.
You Learn More About Yourself
This is another benefit of going to therapy that might be confusing to you as well. Therapy is a unique experience that you don’t really have that often. You get to open up to someone and just let everything out however you’d like it to be. Now you may be thinking that this is something that you could do with anyone. Your close friends, coworkers, or even family. This is true, but are these people active listeners? Are they more empathetic than sympathetic? Do they ask the right kind of questions that engage you in deep conversation? I bet most of the answers to these questions is no. Therapists do these kinds of things for a living. Call them experts at empathy and active listening if you will. They are the best resource that you can have. Speaking of resources, this leads me to the next benefit of therapy.
No Other Resources Worked
This one can be a tricky one to explain since there are so many different resources out there, but picture yourself scrolling on your computer. You search up “therapy resources” and come across numerous websites all providing valuable resources regarding therapy and self help. You get excited and start trying out each of these resources, but none of them work. Soon you realize that you aren’t an expert at these things and are unsure on why nothing works for you. It’s more of a chore than something to be excited about. After days and weeks of searching, you find nothing that works out for you, so you go to therapy.
Therapy is so convenient because there are many different ways to receive therapy. Each way of therapy has it’s own benefits. For example, there is online therapy like Talkspace and Betterhelp that allows people to receive therapy anywhere they want. The one major drawback to this is that you lack the face-to-face interaction that in-person therapy gives you. It’s the social media effect all over again. This all comes to play when the therapist builds rapport and trust with you. It’s important to see each other’s facial expressions and body language when engaging in therapy. Without that, you can be confused on how the other person is feeling. It all depends on the type of therapy that you would want to receive.
You’ll See Where Your Mental Health Status Is
You know how we all go to the doctor for a physical? A check-up even? Who says that you can’t do that for your mental health? You don’t have to be in therapy for 12-20 sessions if you don’t need to. You can literally get an assessment from the first session to see where you’re at. This is one of the best benefits therapy has to offer because of the ethics behind it. There is no contract stating that you have to attend every session or else you’ll have to pay for everything. No, that is just silly now isn’t it. Now, nothing may be wrong with you or a lot of things are wrong with you. It’s a good thing to check on your physical health as well as your mental health. They both go hand-in-hand when it comes to living a happy and fulfilling life.
Usually when you get an assessment, you can ask the therapist what you should do to get rid of the mental health issues that you are facing. Most of the time, they will probably prescribe you some medication, which is what you don’t really need. You’re looking for any coping and self care techniques that can help you with whatever it is that you need help with.
As you can see, there is a lot of benefits of going to therapy. I’m not saying that therapy is perfect in any way. In fact, I think that there are a lot of things that can be improved about therapy. These are more of the benefits and positive aspects that therapy has to offer.
