Whether you want to boost your self-esteem, reduce anxiety, or learn how to cope with depression, psychotherapy can help. However, many people avoid getting the treatment they need due to perceived barriers.
Luckily, telemedicine is changing the game for mental health. This modern approach to psychotherapy provides unparalleled convenience and accessibility.
Boosts Self-Esteem
When people feel good about themselves, they can take care of their loved ones and tackle life’s challenges. Whether you need help getting through an upsetting situation or learning healthier ways to cope, therapy can be a great way to build your self-esteem.
Your Seattle therapists can teach you the skills to feel more confident, such as setting boundaries and identifying triggers. You can learn to understand the negative effects of distorted thinking and develop a more realistic, positive perspective.
Reduces Anxiety
The most common mental illness is anxiety, which, like other illnesses, has to be treated. Treatment for anxiety disorders can be effectively achieved with psychotherapy, including various forms of cognitive and psychodynamic treatment.
Anxiety treatment focuses on helping patients understand their minds and how they amplify or diminish threats. It also teaches them to decipher negative thought patterns that aggravate feelings of fear and discomfort. In addition, therapists often employ one or more well-researched programs of skills to help reduce anxiety, including CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), DBT (dialectical behavior therapy), and ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy).
Sessions in psychotherapy can be difficult as the patient works through uncomfortable emotions. However, the progress patients see session-by-session is an important indication of their therapists’ effectiveness. Session-by-session improvement typically includes reductions in threat sensitivity, physical arousal and edginess, emotional distress, avoidance, and interference with life activities. The improvements resulting from psychotherapy also last far longer than the treatment period. The results of anxiety therapy can last for months and even years after the patient’s psychotherapy concludes.
Helps Deal With Depression
Depression is one of the most common mental health issues affecting people. It is highly treatable and can be relieved with psychotherapy. Some of the most common forms of therapy for depression include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), interpersonal therapy, and psychodynamic psychotherapy.
These kinds of depression therapies assist patients in recognizing the causes of their depression and creating constructive coping mechanisms. To help people take action before things get out of control, they also educate them on how to identify and respond to early warning indications that their depression is getting worse.
Another important aspect of therapy for depression is learning to build strong relationships with others and cultivate social support networks that can help protect against depressive episodes. Some forms of depression treatment include family therapy and couples counseling, which can help address some of the root causes of depression. In addition, interpersonal therapy can be useful in resolving relationship conflicts that may lead to depression. This can be done through individual or group therapy sessions. It is also possible to undergo analytical psychotherapy, which focuses on exploring past experiences that may be contributing to depression.
Helps Deal With Anger
People who experience frequent or uncontrollable anger often seek counseling to help them learn more constructive ways of responding. Anger can damage relationships, lead to legal problems, or interfere with work or daily life. A therapist can help you identify underlying issues that contribute to your anger and teach you a variety of techniques designed to reduce it.
Cognitive restructuring, which assists in recognizing and altering unhelpful thinking processes that escalate your anger, maybe a component of anger management treatment. It may also be part of Learning how to relax via meditation and deep breathing techniques. These can ease the physical strain of rage, such as clenching your jaw or headaches.
You may benefit from psychotherapy with a counselor who specializes in anger management, such as a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. These mental health professionals work collaboratively to help you understand underlying issues contributing to your anger while teaching you healthy behavioral changes. They can also provide you with medications if necessary.
Helps Deal With Stress
Stress is a natural body reaction to dangerous situations, but it can take a serious toll on your health when it becomes chronic. Unmanaged stress can lead to unhealthy lifestyle habits, self-injury, and substance abuse.
Therapists can help you learn skills to lower your stress level and improve your ability to cope with distressing situations in healthy ways. They can teach you relaxation techniques, meditation, and other coping mechanisms. They can also help you rebalance your diet and ensure you eat enough foods that provide the nutrients necessary for a healthy mind and body.
Especially for those in jobs like first responders, it can be helpful to increase your ability to tolerate distress because their roles often put them in stressful or life-threatening situations. Therapy can help you get to the root of your stress and learn how to handle it.
Many different types of therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), have proven effective for managing and reducing stress. CBT teaches you tools to change negative thinking patterns and replace them with healthier ones.