Therapy has been stigmatized for years. Sadly, this has left countless people suffering from overwhelming anxiety, depression, and unresolved grief on their own. If you’re eager to improve your mental well-being and establish mood balance, you’re not alone. More importantly, there are many good reasons to not be ashamed about seeking the help you need. Following are five of them.
1. Therapy Isn’t Just for Treating Mental Illness
Contrary to what many people believe, therapy isn’t just for treating mental illness. Working with a counselor or psychotherapist is also a great way to identify and undo the ravages of early-life behavioral conditioning. For instance, if you have a negative self-image and constantly struggle with feelings of low self-worth, you may be hearkening back to negative statements that were made to you or about you during childhood. Therapy is an excellent tool for overcoming the ongoing effects of verbal and emotional abuse that may have shaped your opinion of yourself.
Therapy is also effective for changing mindsets. Although some people are natural optimists, others must learn to identify and redirect pessimistic thoughts and feelings on their own. When you want to develop a positive, take-charge attitude, a counselor can help you pinpoint the underlying beliefs and ideas that are keeping you from being proactive.
2. You Can Improve Your Communication Skills in Therapy
Communication is a two-way street. Among the most important skills that people develop in therapy are strong active listening skills. Not only can a counselor help you become better at expressing yourself, but you can also learn the value and importance of listening to others.
Whether you have communication-related problems at work or in your personal life, going to therapy could improve the nature and effectiveness of your verbal interactions with others. Strong communication skills can foster trust in many instances. They also build self-awareness and empathy.
3. Each Session Can Improve Your Performance and Life-Quality
Attempting to resolve overwhelming mental or emotional anguish by using the same tactics that failed to work in the past can be likened to making a cake. If a cake is made with the same steps and the same ingredients, again and again, the same results will invariably be achieved. Therapy is an opportunity to add something new to the mix. It will provide you with new insights, new tools, new skills, and ultimately, new results.
In this way, going to therapy is empowering. It provides people with the information and resources they need for taking charge of their lives and creating different and increasingly positive outcomes. Identifying challenges and then tackling them head-on will enhance both your performance and your overall quality of life.
4. All of Your Relationships Can Benefit From Therapy
Whether you schedule private counseling in Alpharetta, GA, or sign up for group or family therapy, you’ll have the chance to improve all of your personal and professional relationships. In therapy, you can learn strategies for better managing your stress, improving your distress
tolerance, and dealing with difficult people and circumstances. Therapists can offer tips on establishing and maintaining firm boundaries, actively listening to others, and changing co-dependent behaviors.
The skills that you develop while in counseling will make you better adept in dealing with the unexpected, more empathetic, and better able to connect with others. If you’ve struggled in any of these areas in the past, going to therapy can be the start of establishing strong and meaningful relationships.
5. There’s No Shame in Seeking Help When You Know You Need It
Overwhelming depression, persistent anxiety, unmanaged stress, and unprocessed grief don’t simply go away on their own. Whether these issues require ongoing counseling or other treatment measures, they will often worsen if not addressed. Worse still, overwhelming emotions often affect people’s ability to function. They can cause problems at work, school, or home, and they can cause additional stress. According to many mental health experts, recognizing the need for help and then seeking it is an act of courage.
It’s additionally important to note that whether dealing with diagnosable, treatable mental illnesses, low self-worth, overwhelming guilt, or past trauma, many people who don’t seek therapy often turn to drugs or alcohol for relief. Seeking help is a far more positive way to deal with mental or emotional anguish than self-treating in unsafe and unsustainable ways.
Bottom Line
There’s nothing shameful about taking a positive, proactive step towards bettering your life. With individual counseling, you can learn more about the beliefs and behaviors that are keeping you from reaching your goals or preventing you from establishing healthy relationships. Although therapy has long been stigmatized, those who reach out for help despite this stigma can reap tremendous personal rewards.
