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FAQs How will I know if a therapist is right for me? Once you have confirmed that your therapist is qualified and experienced, your feelings are a good guide. Pay attention to your instincts. If you have questions, ask your therapist even if it feels a little uncomfortable to do so. Feeling safe and confident in therapy is very important to the success of treatment. It is important for you to feel that the therapist is genuinely interested in you, listening and responsive to what you share and the concerns you raise. Sometimes seeing a therapist for several sessions before making a final decision is helpful. If, however, you continue to feel uncomfortable, it might be a good idea to ask for a consultation with another therapist. I don’t like to bother other people with my problems. Shouldn’t I be able to help myself? Therapy is often confused with dependency and weakness. Nothing is further from the truth. Therapy is a journey of change and you are in charge of that journey. The therapist will assist you in clarifying your thoughts and feelings and provide you with helpful tools and feedback but you will make your own choices. The goal of therapy is to help you gain independence and decision making power over yourself and your behavior. If I can talk to a friend for free, why would I go to a therapist? If you have a patient and wise and understanding friend who will listen to your problems, that is a good thing. But often it is not enough. A professionally trained person has the skills to help you uncover the things that are really bothering you, see the patterns in your life that have led to your unhappiness and help you recognize and change those patterns. Psychotherapy is a process that focuses on growth and change. Talking about our issues, assessing and understanding our feelings makes it possible to become more aware of the source of our problems. This awareness enables us to make the most out of the options we have available to us. It also helps us find ways to deal more effectively with our feelings, and to choose the way we behave in every aspect of our lives. A good friend will offer understanding, love and comfort – nothing to sneeze at, but not enough. I don’t want to blame others for my troubles. Doesn’t therapy just dwell on the past and become an endless gripe session? You and your therapist work together to create the course your therapy takes. Your therapist may suggest exploring certain areas, but there are many ways to approach this exploration; reliving you past does not need to be one of them. Nevertheless, understanding how your past has affected you can be very helpful in breaking free of the anxiety, fear, sadness or guilt that often causes distress and seriously interferes with your life. HOW LONG WILL THERAPY TAKE? Because each of us is unique, there is no single answer to this question. The length of therapy depends on factors such as the types of issues you are working on, how long you have been struggling with your problems, the complexity of your situation, and what you are looking to accomplish. Sometimes brief interventions are very helpful. In other cases, months and years of work are invested in an in-depth exploration of your personal conflicts. The choice is yours and it can always be discussed with your therapist. DOES PSYCHOTHERAPY ALWAYS WORK? Psychotherapy usually helps – sometimes a great deal and sometimes not so much. When you are talking to someone who has professional training and has helped many others with problems similar to yours, that person is able to see the patterns in your life that have led to your unhappiness. In therapy, the work is to help you recognize these patterns and help you find ways to change the ones you want to change. It is important to share your concerns in a serious, sincere and open manner and this definitely contributes to the success of your therapy. But it must be acknowedged that there are times when psychotherapy, even in combination with medication doesn’t help very much. There are never any guarantees when dealing with the human psyche. IS EVERYTHING CONFIDENTIAL? Over time, you need to develop the kind of trust in your therapist that will allow you to share private thoughts and feelings Confidentiality is basic to therapy and the patient has the right to control access to information about the treatment. But some insurance companies require certain information from the therapist as a condition for payment. If this is a major area of concern, it should be one of the subjects covered when you meet for the first time so that you are clear about your therapist’s policies and procedures regarding confidentiality and what information insurance companies require. CAN YOU GET MEDICATION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY? Both medication and therapy have been shown to be effective in treating mental illness. The type of treatment used depends on the nature of the problem. Since everyone is different, there is no one correct approach. Research suggests that the use of medication and psychotherapy together can be very helpful. The medication offers relief from severe symptoms, while psychotherapy enables you to gain knowledge about and control of, yourself and your life. The result is usually enhancement of your quality of life.
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