It can be challenging in a world that often seems uncaring, where we have to make tough decisions and where things happen to us leaving us with the unanswered question of “why?” Sometimes you need to voice these things, process emotions and have someone there to help you navigate unchartered waters. A therapist can help you with all of this and more during individual therapy.
What a Therapist Can Help You With
These are some of the things a therapist providing individual therapy is professionally trained to be able to help with:
Helping you cope with emotions and their origin
We can experience a wide range of emotions (anger, sadness, anxiety etc.). And sometimes we can even experience them all due to one event or thing in our lives. A therapist can help you to identify these emotions when they come up and manage them in a healthy way. Many times, we are also very aware of the emotions that can overwhelm us, but we have no idea where these emotions come from. A therapist can also help you identify the origin and the triggers for these emotions during individual therapy. Approaches used are i.e. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Schema Therapy.
Identifying and treating mental illnesses and disorders
From ADHD and dyslexia to Depression and Schizophrenia, a therapist is professionally trained to spot these illnesses and disorders and help you manage them with the help of a psychologist.
Working through trauma
Trauma can have a massive impact on your well-being and can come in many shapes and forms. It can range from a childhood event to a robbery, death of a loved one and much, much more. Trauma is accompanied by overwhelming emotions, physical symptoms and triggers that are experienced daily. To help you process what has happened to you and mitigate its consequences, you’ll need a professional to guide you through it. One of the most well known, and evidence based , treatment approaches for trauma is EMDR.
Identifying and treating addictions
Once again, a therapist may be able to recognize/spot the signs of a potential addiction (these can include things such as drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, gambling, etc). If the problem is already in its advanced stages they will help to recommend you to the right organisations or rehabilitation centres. Therapists and individual therapy also play a key role in the rehabilitation process itself and after-care.
All things relationship related
Whether you just want to share your relationship experiences and learn how to handle them better. Or whether you are a couple in crisis – a therapist can do wonders. From helping you process emotions triggered by things in your relationship, finding and managing unhealthy patterns, to getting a derailed relationship back on track and helping merge two lives when a couple first moves in – your therapist will be able to help with it all during individual therapy. We also offer Sex Therapy and Couples Counseling.
Navigating new seasons in your life
Whether a divorce, a move to another city/country or some other drastic change that’s leading you in a new direction, tackling new seasons in your life can be daunting and tricky. They can lead to situations you have no idea how to deal with, complex emotions and hurdles to overcome. A therapist can help guide you through all of these.
Identifying and treating abuse
Therapists are trained to recognize/spot the signs of abuse (whether children who don’t understand what’s happening to them or adults suppressing these traumatic events). A therapist is also not limited in the types of abuse they can help with. It can be sexual, emotional, verbal or physical. Once a victim has reached out they can help them process the complicated emotions that go along with abuse and the consequences it may have such as unhealthy coping skills, anxiety etc.
Helping you with your personal development
There doesn’t always need to be something wrong for you to benefit from individual therapy. A therapist can actually aid you in your personal growth and development journey as well. It can be anything from boosting your self-esteem to changing old beliefs and adopting new habits.
Signs That it’s Time to Reach Out
If you are wondering whether you might need a therapist and individual therapy, here are a few tell-tale signs:
- Feeling overwhelmed by emotions, events or your life in general.
- Changes in your sleeping patterns. We’re not talking about one or two nights of struggling to sleep, there has to be a regular disruption whether suddenly sleeping too much, not being able to sleep at all or constantly waking up throughout the night etc.
- When you are self-isolating. This is when you always find an excuse why you can’t meet up with friends. You stop checking in with family. Or you might even find that you’re distancing yourself from the partner or spouse you’re living with.
- You are constantly worried and it feels like the anxiety is consuming you. It can apply to work, the people in your life or just having to cross the street. When these worrying thoughts start becoming so intrusive in your everyday life, you need to reach out to a professional.
- Your emotions get the better of you. It seems like you can’t manage or control your emotions.
- You’ve gone emotionally “numb”. That’s usually when people say things like they “don’t care” or “don’t feel anything”.
- You’re feeling hopeless and defeated and might even start entertaining thoughts of self-harm.
- When your work-life is a mess. You spend the majority of your days at work and when things are not going well career-wise, it has a profound impact on your mental well-being – without you even knowing it.
- Changes in your eating habits (once again, we are not referring to a once-off occurrence, but rather when you suddenly find that you rarely have an appetite or you start eating more than usual).
- When you are experiencing flashbacks.
- You are keeping a lot of things to yourself. Most of us have an inherent need to protect ourselves and those around us, so we’ll often keep certain things from our loved ones. But not telling loved ones about a hurtful comment is vastly different to keeping quiet about financial difficulty, a break-up, an accident etc. This level of “secretive” behaviour is a giant red flag.
Why People Don’t Reach Out
There are many reasons why people won’t reach out when they are experiencing difficult times or complicated emotions. These can include the following:
- Not wanting to talk to friends and family due to feeling ashamed or not wanting to burden them with their problems.
- A lack of funds since professional help can be expensive, especially if you don’t have any health insurance.
- Their location. Some may find themselves in areas where there are no therapists nearby or they may live in such remote areas that it’s a mission just to get groceries, never mind a therapist.
- A lack of time. Many simply don’t have the time to drive all the way to a practice that’s only open within office hours.
The Benefits of Online Therapy
This is where online therapy can be incredibly helpful. Except for having all the benefits of any other psychology practice, it has added benefits that address many of the reasons why people don’t want to reach out in the first place. These include:
- Being able to talk to an objective person that is professionally trained to handle these situations.
- Since online therapy avoids a lot of in-office overheads and there’s no travel involved, it’s much more affordable.
- It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, a professional therapist is just one click away.
- Online sessions are much more convenient. You can now squeeze these into your everyday life as and when it suits you, wherever you are.
- You’ll be empowered with life-coping skills from a professional.
- It has been proven that the stress release and increased happiness therapy brings, directly influences your productivity for the better.
- It can improve your communication skills and how you interact with others.
- You’ll be able to deal with conflict much better.
- It can help you reach goals by holding you accountable. Not only will a therapist be able to help you reach your goals by working with some of the challenges you face in chasing after them, but therapy can work very similar to the buddy system when working out since you have someone that can hold you accountable for the milestones and goals you set.
- Your sleep patterns will return to normal.
- Your relationships with family and friends will improve.
- Any mental illnesses or disorders will be properly managed and you’ll feel more in control.
- You’ll be empowered with healthy coping skills for when life’s inevitable curveballs come.
- You’ll change negative thoughts, beliefs and behaviours.
- You will feel a sense of release and relief when unburdening yourself to your therapist and finally voicing things that have been left unsaid for too long.
- Finding the answers to certain “whys” like why you seem to find yourself in the same situations over and over again, why you attract certain people, why you have certain emotions and why you choose to deal with things the way you do.
Finding the Right Fit
It is extremely important that you find the professional that’s the right fit for you based on your personality and situation, and we are more than happy to assist wherever we can. So, if you are currently wanting to reach out or have come to the realisation that you probably should, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our website or at info@pervanpsychology.com or simply complete the contact form below and we’ll get in touch shortly.