5 Reasons Why Therapy Can Be Good For You
Guest Blogger
| 3 min read
In fact, you should not shy away at all from seeing a professional for your mental health, and there are U.S. laws in place to protect your right to mental health care! More specifically, the Affordable Care Act cites mental health care as an essential benefit for all. From personal growth to providing support through a difficult time, counseling can provide a wealth of positive benefits for your emotional wellbeing.
- Therapy gives you a new viewpoint. Say you’re stuck in a tough situation at work or at home that you can’t get off your mind. Maybe your co-workers are driving you crazy or you’re having relationship problems with your partner. Friends can offer you advice and a compassionate ear. But therapists have an outsider’s view, are trained to help you and are more apt to tell you what you need to hear versus what you want to hear.
- Therapy brings meaning back into your life. We often go about our busy, daily lives feeling unfulfilled. Maybe everything is going relatively well, but you still feel like something’s missing. Counselors offer direction and guidance, and will hold you accountable to your life goals.
- Therapy helps you grow as a person. Talking with a therapist provides an opportunity to reflect on how you envision your life. Therapists and counselors encourage their clients to reflect on their thoughts, behaviors and actions, challenging old and ineffective ways of thinking. That deeper understanding of who you are and what matters most to you in the world will inevitably lead to self-growth.
- Therapy boosts your self-confidence. Maybe your greatest challenge has little to do with external problems or your health. Maybe the biggest problem you have is how you feel about yourself. If negative thoughts are preventing you from seeking what truly makes you happy in life, therapy might be what you need. A therapist can teach you how to transform negative thoughts into more positive ones and feeling heard and understood can go a long way in increasing your sense of self-worth and confidence.
- Therapy can help you make a decision. Perhaps you’re stuck in a rut because you’re unable to move forward with a decision of some kind. Therapists can teach you skills, coping techniques and an objective way of seeing things to help you make the best decision for you.
Counseling offers new insights about the world that can dramatically improve your relationships as well as your emotional health. Almost everybody has something to gain from it.
In fact, research shows expressing your feelings can minimize difficult emotions such as anger, pain and grief. There is, however, one requirement needed to reap the benefits of therapy or counseling. Psychotherapist Jeffrey Sumber, MA, states in this article, “There are clearly some clients who are 99 percent against changing their behaviors or thoughts, but it takes one percent, some thread of interest or hope, for the process to be successful.”
The good news? If you have an ounce of interest, desire or openness to receiving support, you’ll be on your way to not only prevent illness, but improve your overall emotional wellness and wellbeing.
Photo Credit: Teeejayy
Megan Dottermusch is the community manager for [email protected], the masters in counseling program offered by The Family Institute at Northwestern, online. She is a wellness advocate, motivating others to incorporate fitness, proper nutrition and mindfulness into everyday life. She attended the University of Maryland and served as risk manager on her sorority’s executive board, acting as a confidante for members seeking help for personal and emotional issues. She hopes starting a dialogue around mental health will address the misconceptions and end the stigmas associated with mental illness.
