Common Therapy Questions

A variety of benefits can come from participating in therapy, whether short-term or long-term. Therapists can provide a unique degree of highly attuned, nonjudgmental listening and collaborative support as clients sort through frustrations, griefs, confusions or conflicting goals in moments of upheaval or anticipated need for change that warrant a professional with no conflict of interest in their lives, someone who can listen effectively and help the client not only feel truly heard but also probe for a determination of their own evolving true wants and needs.

Pivotally, as therapists increasingly come to know their client's past and present experience and future goals and dreams, the therapist's ear attuned to recurrent patterns and struggles or sometimes discrepancies across the client's stories of lived experience often leads to asking the kind of questions people don't ask themselves, which can unearth new understandings and point you in the direction of greater insight into one's own wants, needs, and preferred solutions to perceived problems. In my experience, this can be one of therapy's greatest benefits - asking the questions that lead clients to explore connections where they find answers inside themselves that they didn't know they possessed. Most importantly, through this process, the client in the right combination with the right therapist for them comes to feel a kind of safety that gives them a place to turn where they know they can say and explore whatever distresses them and feel heard and unjudged to sort through decisions and choices in matters where any other person in their life they would trust to confide in might well have a conflict of interest.

Therapy routinely draws on the expertise of the therapist about causes and effects of psychological, emotional, and physical signs and symptoms sometimes shedding light on a diagnostic path (including recognition of symptoms that warrant medical attention the client may not have considered) but almost inevitably leading to an exploration of existing coping strategies, reviewing or teaching self-care, mindfulness, and problem-solving skills, and ultimately enhanced or healthier, more desirable coping strategies – for issues such as depression, anxiety, grief and loss , stress management, relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues , body image issues, creative blocks, identity crisis and crossroads-in-life crises, self-esteem and personal growth, interpersonal relationships at work and school, family concerns, marriage and parenting issues, or overwhelmedness from a periodic sense of inability to manage the hassles of daily life. Therapists can provide awareness of relevant community resources and facilitate access to ones that may benefit the client's situation. The benefits you obtain from therapy depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn. Some of the more specific benefits available from therapy include:

Because each person has different issues and goals for therapy, therapy will be different depending on the individual. In general, you can expect to discuss the current events happening in your life, your personal history relevant to your issue, and report progress (or any new insights gained) from the previous therapy session. Depending on your specific needs, therapy can be short-term, for a specific issue, or longer-term, to deal with more difficult patterns or your desire for more personal development. Either way, it is most common to schedule regular sessions with your therapist (usually weekly).

It is important to understand that you will get more results from therapy if you actively participate in the process (rather than expect therapy to be something that happens to you or transforms you as if by magic). The ultimate purpose of therapy is to help you bring what you learn in session back into your daily life and into your decisions about your big-picture priorities. Therefore, beyond the work you do in therapy sessions, your therapist may suggest some things you can do outside of therapy to support your process - such as reading a pertinent book, journaling on specific topics, noting particular behaviors or taking action on your goals. People seeking psychotherapy who are ready to make positive changes in their lives, who are open to new perspectives and who take responsibility for their lives will show the greatest gains in self-actualization and with the soonest pace of turnaround. Typically, such change begins paradoxically with accepting rather than indicting oneself for being where you are now, releasing oneself from the self-berating than often brings about internal resistance and/or paralysis.

It is well established that the long-term solution to mental and emotional problems and the pain they cause cannot be solved solely by medication. Instead of just treating the symptom, therapy addresses the cause of our distress and the behavior patterns that curb our progress. You can best achieve sustainable growth and a greater sense of well-being with an integrative approach to wellness. Working with your medical doctor you can determine what's best for you, and in some cases a combination of medication and therapy is the right course of action. In some cases, a client may seek medical consultation or psychiatric evaluation as a basis for making a more informed choice about whether to consider psychotropic medication in addition to therapy, and a therapist can help facilitate this referral process.

Please find the answer to this question under the Privacy Policy section.

How do I choose a therapist or know if I'm well served?