"Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful parts of us."
-David Richo
Mental health and the Need for Therapy
In life, we are subjected to all kinds of pain and suffering. Right from our childhood, we begin to face stressors or challenges and continue to do so regardless of what age we are, or the phase of life we are in. The continuous changes in life impact our mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health as these are all interrelated. We are also social beings, our world and our relationships impact us deeply. Since we are always being influenced by our environment, it is consequential for us to deviate from our inherent sense of well-being.
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As humans, we have an inherent need for safety and connection. Thankfully, we also have an inherent need to be whole. Many life experiences challenge these intrinsic needs, pushing us into inauthentic and unhealthy ways of being and relating. We are not always able to understand our experience on our own, and may at times lack appropriate knowledge, awareness, sense of direction, capacity to understand, tools and skills, and a supportive presence who helps us gain the strength to restore our capacity for healing, bring the necessary changes and heal from what has deeply impacted our mind and body.
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Therapy helps bring all of these required tools and agents for change and growth. Therapy helps support our healing. Psychotherapy is a process that allows us to explore ourselves deeper, and find ways of becoming a more balanced, and integrated person.
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I see counseling and psychotherapy as a beautiful collaborative effort of both the client and the therapist to come together on a journey of personal as well as mutual reflection, and introspection. It is not just the client or the therapist solely who works to identify the issues or ways of dealing with presenting concerns. But, the coming together of both parties who develop a therapeutic relationship which becomes the anchored ground for change and healing to occur.
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How does it help?
Psychotherapy and counseling both allow us to see ourselves better, to get a deeper understanding of the meaning we make of experiences, of life, and help us get in touch with our deeper, true Self. But, even if one does not wish to dive deep, and simply wants to reduce their symptoms of stress or anxiety, psychotherapy and counseling makes one able to experience relief, and heal from being able to share his/her story in a safe, confidential, and non-judgmental space.
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Moreover, it allows us to understand the root as well as the driving factors of any phenomenon occurring in our lives. It can help us acknowledge different perspectives to have a more holistic understanding of our lived experience. It aids in the integration of our past, present, and future. Psychotherapy is not just for curing clinical ailments such as clinical depression or anxiety, but for anyone and everyone to understand themselves better, find support through the challenging moments and live a balanced, intentional, and content life.
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Trauma-Informed lens in psychotherapy helps us make sense of our past trauma and wounds, and to understand how our body and mind gets affected by those adverse experiences. It helps us work on not just the mind in processing the traumatic experiences, but also release the trauma stored in our body, to move towards safety and regulation. It allows space to work on our relational wounds, and restore our body's sense of self, safety and connection.
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