Month: May 2021

Have you ever felt so down, and nothing you do eases the heavy feeling? Tough times are a part of life as we experience problems and challenges. Sometimes, it takes more than support and positivity to get you through. When times get tough, it is okay to ask for help.

Asking for help can be difficult for some people, especially if you feel like a burden. However, we must remember: most are more than willing to help us get through times. Counselors are professionals who know exactly what to do to guide us back on our feet.

Counseling and Mental Health

During the past century, we have placed more and more value on our mental health. The stigma of psychologists and counselors only working with the insane is long gone. As many people face more problems each day, we aim to understand better how our mind works. This way, counselors can better grasp how we can get rid of our negative thoughts and behaviors.

When Do You Need Counseling?

Your mental health is an important component of your overall well-being. It might not be easy at first, but you must seek help when you need to. There is no need to prolong your suffering when help is readily available. Below are some of the most common reasons people seek therapy or online counseling.

• A Major Change In Life

Some life events leave a negative impact on our lives. The pain from the past and anxiety of what the future holds are thoughts and emotions that are difficult to manage. When the events entail significant life changes, coping can become difficult. A divorce, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or a serious illness like cancer, is not easy to handle. A counselor can help you adjust to these changes.

• A Stressful Environment

The world we live in can become a toxic place, which isn’t ideal for a healthy mental and emotional state. A stressful environment can make our life miserable. A work environment with too many demands and difficult colleagues can be tough. A home built for rest and security can cause stress, especially when conflict is present. A counselor can give you advice on how to deal with the stress your environment causes you.

• An Unhealthy Or Abusive Relationship

Good relationships are important for support and inspiration to get through tough times. But what if the person meant to care for us is toxic or abusive? A counselor can help you get out of an unhealthy or abusive relationship. Domestic conflicts, marital abuse, child abuse, or sexual problems are examples of unhealthy relationships. Sometimes, counselors might help resolve interpersonal problems and make a relationship with a loved one healthy again.

• Being A Victim Or A Witness Of A Traumatic Situation

Various events can lead to trauma. Traumatic situations can be anything from assault, violence, or sexual abuse, to natural disasters and accidents. The mental flashbacks that make you feel fear and helplessness may have long-term damaging effects. A counselor can help you deal with the effects of trauma lingering with your second chance at life. You can still enjoy your everyday life after surviving or rising from a horrifying event.

• An Unhealthy Defense Or Coping Strategy

We all have our ways of dealing with our problems, whether big or small. However, you will need a counselor if your coping mechanisms have unhealthy effects like alcohol dependence, smoking, drug use, oversleeping, overeating, compulsive spending, avoidance, venting, and more. This keeps us stuck in a loop of lows instead of resolving our problems. Developing a healthy coping strategy is the key to getting through tough times.

Different Kinds Of Counseling Therapies To Help You Cope

Our thoughts, behaviors, attitudes, experiences, and surroundings can shape how we cope through tough times. Regardless of the reason why we struggle, we must always strive to keep our mental faculties healthy. Some people are good at having a positive mindset in life on their own. But, there is no denying that many people need help. During difficult times, a counselor can help.

Counselors use different strategies of psychotherapy to help their clients conquer their problems. Whether you have a diagnosed mental health condition or not, a licensed counselor is capable of helping you cope. Here are a few techniques that they use to help you think better and handle issues more positively.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, emphasizes changing and improving the way you think and behave. Unlike traditional psychotherapy, CBT does not dive deep into your subconscious mind. Instead, it focuses on your automatic negative thoughts and behaviors you are used to. Through CBT, you will learn how you can bypass these automatic thoughts and practice better-coping skills.

CBT is an effective strategy for certain types of medical conditions. However, there are certain challenges should you want to try CBT. For one, it can be difficult at first to recognize your negative thoughts. Also, you must commit to change for CBT to work effectively. Once you get through this gradual process, you will learn how to cope better. 

• Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Interpersonal Psychotherapy, or IPT, works on the premise of a person’s emotion linked to his life events. When people have major changes in their lives, they will also experience a big change in their mood. IPT was designed at first to help people with major depression. However, IPT has also been effective in improving mood. People who are grieving, struggling, or pressured with sudden life changes are only a few examples. 

• Mindfulness-Based Therapy

Mindfulness-based Therapy, or MBT, is grounded in mindfulness: the state of being conscious with yourself. Often, mindfulness strategies use many meditations to help you become more aware of your bodies and thoughts. Doing so can help separate yourself from any negative thoughts and emotions you might have. People who experience a lot of stress in their lives can benefit a lot from MBT.

Gone are the days when asking for help is a sign of weakness. True strength lies in knowing yourself and your needs. Once you commit to fulfilling your needs and improving yourself, you’ll be a step away from your harsh experiences in life. Difficult times may seem endless, but things will be better, especially if you reach a counselor.…

Have you experienced undergoing a counseling session and talking to a professional expert? How did the treatment go? There is a counseling approach that focuses on you as a customer instead of as a regular patient. Meaning it’s counseling that’s revolving around you. Let’s discuss this topic further.

It has been a stigma in society that when a person goes to person-centered counseling or consults for professional help, he is being judged right away. But whether you are suffering from concealed depression, anxiety, or not, you can still seek the guidance of a counselor.

Understanding The Process of a Counseling Session

Do you doubt this? Take it from Carl Rogers, the one who oped person-centered theory, a well-known humanistic psychologist who introduced a new clinical practice and approach to therapy: Client-Centered Therapy.

This has added a new perception to professional medical advice, patients, and counselors. It has been shown to be beneficial to human existence and to many individuals across the globe.

Let’s talk about the patient’s experience prior to working with a client-centered counselor. Before, the humanistic psychology approach and behaviorism saw people as patients who were sick and in need of a cure. This makes it seem that people, in their own words, need help and are unfit to decide for themselves.

This is what Carl Rogers believed came in to show his dismay. He somehow knew that this type of talk therapy was not sufficient and was less effective.

Rogers formulated client-centered therapy, also known as Rogerian Therapy or Rogerian Psychotherapy. Rogers strongly believed that humans are inherently good and have a strong desire for personal growth. What they strive for is to reach the highest human development, also known as self-actualization.

This is the total opposite of the term of how a ‘patient’ is viewed. Rogers then decided to change it to ‘client.’ A key point in the client-centered therapy approach.

The Foundations Of Client-Centered Therapy

Slowly, Rogers built the foundations of Client-Centered Therapy. In this approach, the patient knows more about themselves than the counselor could ever know. They let the patient explain, which seems to be a humanistic therapy. Patients share stories about themselves; thus, the name is client-centered.

By empathetic understanding of the client’s thoughts and feelings, the counselor focuses on the foreground. The client realizes existing issues, like their self-esteem, how they view their self-direction, and even illnesses like eating disorders, reflect on themselves, and get an idea of what they should do moving forward.

The term client-centered therapy, also known as person-centered theory, is a non-directive form of counseling and psychological treatment that was developed by Carl Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s. It emphasizes the client’s experience and innermost thoughts and feelings, rather than the mental health professional’s own words, meanings, or judgments. The counselor strives to see the world from the client’s frame of reference and to understand their feelings or the other person’s ideas.

The goal of this person-centered approach is to encourage clients to achieve personality development, greater self-understanding, self-awareness, acceptance, and independence. The person-centered therapists strive to create a therapeutic environment that is supportive and empathic. The counselor also works to help clients begin personal growth, improve overall well-being, achieve self-actualization, and generate success through professional medical advice.

Qualities Of Client-Centered Therapy

To reach that aim, Rogers emphasized that the counselor first must possess the following three qualities:

• Be Sensitive And Aware Of Any Therapy Reactions

Counselors or mental health professionals must be sensitive and aware in such a way of any reactions, emotions, person’s ideas, or changes in individuals as they talk. It is necessary that they focus on active listening to encourage clients to become self-aware.

Summarizing or repeating what the individual has said will make them feel understood and help the client lessen possible personal abuse, recognizing positive growth and overall well-being.

• Congruence On Both Sides

Empathy will not work in helping the individual see clearly if the counselor is not honest. The client-centered therapists must not pretend to understand, avoid any questions, or fool the patient. They must also be upfront and honest about it, as how the counselor acts in this non-directive therapy.

Client-centered therapy, based on psychotherapy research, has been shown to be an effective treatment for a variety of mental health issues. The counselor in this nondirective counseling provides a supportive and nonjudgmental environment during their psychological contract, in which the client can explore their feelings and things. This type of therapy or therapeutic encounter can help the client achieve growth and develop a more positive outlook on life. It can also help the client to answer any incongruence between their thoughts and their actions given by human nature.

The person-centered therapist should answer the individual and let them know what is happening and the possible reasons why. This is practiced in the client-centered treatment therapeutic process.

• Unconditional Positive Regard

Part of the principles of this person-centered approach is that having honesty and empathy between a counselor and a patient bodes well. However, if unconditional positive regard is not present, things will fall apart.

You cannot be empathetic if you do not show you care for the client’s point. It comes off as fake and will make the individual pull away. It does not matter if you are honest. If the client does not feel the warmth during a session, they will put their guard up even more.

Kind Of Relationship Built Within – Limits and Boundaries In The Treatment

That is the kind of therapeutic relationship a client and a counselor should have. However, a counselor must be wary of the boundaries. Overstepping too much, and the individual own feelings are awful about it. Interact too little, and the patient may not feel comfortable sharing. In centered therapy, there must be a balance in the therapist-client relationship.

Client-Centered Therapy Effectiveness

The most important thing to have in client-centered therapy to be considered a success is the connection between the client and the person-centered therapist. As mentioned when discussing the qualities of client-centered therapists, if there is a fallout between the two during a session, it will be difficult for the individual to open up again. If that is the case, the therapy might lead to failure.

This approach to psychotherapy emphasizes the client’s perception and understanding of their own insights, matters, and values rather than the therapist’s interpretation. In other words, the client is “in the driver’s seat.” The therapist’s role is to provide support and guidance while the client leads the way through therapeutic talking. The therapist desires development for the clients.

This is the reason why the client and the counselor must have a strong bond between them. They must also meet the other six conditions that Rogers mentions.

• There is a good therapeutic relationship between the client and the counselor

• The client

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