What is therapy?
When we are hurting inside, or life doesn't seem to be working, talking to our friends or family can sometimes help us feel better for a little while. However, even a well-meaning friend or family can't provide therapy. Therapy is a treatment process that uses specialized techniques of caring that have been designed to offer effective, long-lasting help for people suffering from a wide range of difficulties.
One of the biggest misconceptions about therapy is that seeing a therapist is a sign of weakness. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Recognizing the need for help and seeking professional therapy is a sign of both strength and your determination to live a productive and meaningful life! Working together, you and your therapist identify goals - what you want to work on - and agree on when and how often you will meet. Ultimately, therapy has one goal in mind; that something positive, constructive and usefulness will come out of it for you.
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| Therapy has also been called the "talking cure," but it is much deeper than that. That's because therapy can offer a deeper and richer experience than a simple exchange of words and advice. Thoughts and feelings you share and the professional skills the therapist uses are not nearly as important as the relationship you build together. Because this relationship is so essential to the effectiveness of the process, it is very important that you find someone with whom you feel a safe and comfortable connection.
As therapy progresses, you will actually use the relationship with your therapist as an opportunity to reshape significant emotional experiences and work through problems in your life. In therapy, you intentionally make yourself vulnerable to another human being and you may talk about some things that are very painful for you. However, it is this very process of trusting that it's safe to release feelings - the good and the bad - and knowing that the therapeutic relationship permits you the safely explore deeply felt sources of conflict and dissatisfaction that will finally allow you to make lasting and positive changes to your life.
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