What is it Like Working With a Therapist in Orange County for Your Mental Health?
Like many things, the stigma against therapy and mental health as a whole is rooted in ignorance and misrepresentation. It’s important to educate yourself on what it’s like to work with a therapist in Orange County in the event that you or a loved one needs help for any mental health problems.
Here is everything that you need to know about working with a therapist for your mental health and if you have a good therapist.
What is therapy?
Whether you’re seeking therapy for a mental health problem or as a way to improve your life, therapy aims to help you understand how your mind works on a psychological level.
The great thing about therapy is that it can be used for a variety of things, but overall, it is used to improve your mental health as a whole. Therapy is usually carried out using specific therapeutic methods that vary depending on the client and the case.
Do I need therapy?
A lot of the time, people assume that you only need to seek out therapy if you’re feeling suicidal, depressed, or have some form of mental health disorder. So people who don’t experience these do not see the need to seek out professional mental health, instead choosing to deal with their problems on their own.
Therapy is not an exclusive club that only a select few are allowed to join. It is perfectly acceptable to see a therapist for issues that you yourself might deem insignificant.
Even if you’re experiencing something like an overwhelming feeling of stress, or even problems with relationships, it is perfectly fine to seek out a professional to help you with this.
Therapy is such a wide and varied field and is not limited to just psychological problems. Therapy can be used to improve relationships, change behavior, and improve your outlook on life.
What goes on during therapy?
Therapy takes a lot more effort than that. Of course, talk therapy is still very much in use today, but modern psychological therapists prefer to use more proactive methods to help their clients.
There are plenty of psychotherapeutic methods available in the field of psychology, and it’s up to the therapist to determine which one is the best method to use for your situation. Some forms of therapy involve understanding your thought processes and helping you become more aware of your thinking and how it influences your actions.
Some forms of therapy are even more hands-on and will require active participation on your part. As you can see, there is so much more to therapy than just lying down on a couch and talking about your problems.
What can I do during therapy?
If you’re thinking of going in for therapy, you might be wondering what you’re supposed to do during the actual session. Are you supposed to just sit there and let the therapist do their thing and see if the therapy is working for you? There is no definite guideline on how you’re supposed to act during a therapy session, but here are a few things that can help make the therapy process go smoothly.
Be open
Remember that therapy is supposed to help get to the bottom of your mental health problems and any other problems you might have. In order to help piece everything together and work on it, you have to maintain open communication with your therapist. Not only that, but you should be open to the therapeutic methods that they choose to work with. Therapy cannot help you if you close yourself to the therapeutic process.
Be honest
It’s important to maintain open and honest communication with your therapist. Whether it’s how comfortable you are with them to what you think about the therapy, being honest with your therapist can really help with the therapy process.
If you’re not comfortable with a certain aspect of the therapy, then don’t be afraid to voice it out to your therapist in order to let them know how you feel about it and think about considering another angle with the therapy.
Be patient
Above everything else, be patient with the therapeutic process. It can seem frustrating at the beginning, when it feels like nothing is happening and that you’re wasting your time. You have to understand that changes in your life like improving your mental health don’t happen overnight.
It is a process that you have to trust in, especially if you want it to work for you. However, finding the right therapist for your needs isn’t something that happens right off the bat either.
If you’re working with a therapist in Orange County and you’re not comfortable with their therapy style or if you feel like there’s a disconnect with them, don’t be afraid to look for another therapist. It’s important to find the right therapist for you in order to make the most out of the therapy process.
If you’re not comfortable with a certain aspect of the therapy, then don’t be afraid to voice it out to your therapist in order to let them know how you feel about it and think about considering another angle with the therapy.
Working with a therapist in Orange County is not something that you should be afraid or ashamed of. Making the decision to go to a therapist to help you with your mental health needs is no different from going to a doctor for any physical sicknesses and illnesses.
Here at Tracy Kuhar Counseling, we believe in a more hands-on approach in helping our clients with their mental health problems and provide treatment for a variety of mental health issues from OCD to addiction.
If you or a loved one is in need of professional mental health help, feel free to reach us through a call at 949-300-8004 or feel free to send us an email at [email protected] and we can help you get started right away!