Psychotherapy, specifically cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), is world renowned and considered the leading type of treatment to address issues such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bipolar disorder. Consisting of identifying problematic thoughts and feelings that lead to negative behaviours and substituting them with more positive patterns to trigger healthier responses, below are reasons why psychotherapy is a proven and effective method of treatment.
1. Impartiality
When issues arise, your first instinct may be to talk to family, friends, or colleagues to sort it out. However, these people may know you personally and have a vested interest in you. Also, chances they are not trained in offering advice and assisting you with the problems you are having.
Participating in psychotherapy sessions are beneficial because the therapist is impartial. This allows him/her to look at the specific problems you are having and assist you in developing a plan to address them. Talking to people you know personally may cause them to judge you which will not help and could make you feel even worse. A therapist will not pass judgements and will work hard to assist you in sorting out your issues.
2. No medication
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a class of drugs typically used to treat anxiety and depression. They have been overall very successful in doing so however in some instances continuous use has resulted in adverse side effects and dependency.
While psychotherapy alone has been successful in some cases, a treatment plan consisting of counselling and medication is typical. This may mean some undesirable side effects for a short period of time, but in the long run it is beneficial. As people stabilize on medications and continue to attend counseling, doses can be decreased and then cut out altogether as progress occurs. This ensures that dependency is not an issue down the road.
3. Problem-solving
Problems arise in everyone’s lives. While it is easy to get frustrated and upset about them, they will not go away unless you address them in a level-headed and healthy way.
Psychotherapists can assist you with problem-solving because a therapist can talk you through current issues and help you develop an effective method of addressing them. By talking about how you are feeling and identifying thinking errors, you will be able to tackle the issue directly. This is because you will learn to not let the problem define and consume you and instead start to be more proactive. The tools that you develop in psychotherapy sessions will also give you the skills necessary to identify and address issues in the future.
4. Rewires the brain
The thoughts, feelings, and behaviours all occur due to activity in the brain. It is only logical to attempt to influence how the brain operates and this is a major benefit of participating in psychotherapy.
Many studies have proven that psychotherapy can alter the parts of the brain responsible for controlling emotions and in turn behaviours. Participating in sessions will afford you the opportunity to identify problematic thought processes and replace them with new ones that are positive and will lead to improved behaviour.
5. Long-term effects
Not only will psychotherapy sessions give you the tools necessary to address immediate issues, they will allow you to also use them for the rest of your life.
When you bottle up your feelings and emotions, they are bound to present themselves later on, resulting in an explosion of negative comments and behaviours. In contrast, psychotherapy is beneficial because they allow you to address issues as they arise and come up with ways to face them.
