Individual Psychotherapy
When you feel as though every step you take is like walking barefoot over gravel, it’s time to see a therapist. While psychotherapy is not the equivalent to falling into a feather bed, it can cushion some of the bumps you encounter while you move through life. It can also help you anticipate where the rough spots are going to be, so you are less likely to lose your balance.
The outcome of the process depends on your issues and goals. What tends to trip you up or make you uncomfortable – your own behavior and attitudes or things and people outside your control? A therapist can be a mirror, reflecting you to yourself so you can figure that out. Lost someone or something? Therapy can help you mourn. Terrified? Therapy can help you overcome your fears and turn your nightmares into dreams. Don’t yet have a path? Therapy can help you know yourself well enough to chart your journey in a way that maximizes personal satisfaction and minimizes self-harm or hurt to others.
How does therapy work? Like life, therapy is a journey. In so-called individual therapy, the trek is actually a shared expedition, because therapist and patient travel together into the unknown. As in any relationship, there’s a period of getting to know one another while doing things together — sitting, talking, remembering, planning, and reflecting. As the two people converse, the patient tells the story of his or her present circumstances. Therapist and patient also get to know the landscape of the patient’s life and what else may need tending. In the event a misunderstanding occurs, what may need care is their interaction. Ruptures are attended to, repaired, and understood in light of other relationships the patient has had and in the context of his or her new discoveries. That way, the same sort of rupture can be prevented in life outside of therapy and other similar roadblocks can be identified, understood, and fixed.
How long does it take? Like any passage, the time varies. But unlike most voyages, the duration is negotiable. How much does the crossing cost? The fee is sliding, based on income. Is therapy as effective as medication in treating anxiety, depression, or trauma? The latest studies have shown that it is equally as effective but has more lasting results after it ends. Relational psychotherapy, as described above, has been found to be more effective than cognitive-behavioral therapy in treating PTSD. Medication can be taken at the same time. In fact, its effects are potentiated by being in therapy, too.