What to expect in therapy
One-on-one Counseling
No, you won’t lay down on a couch with the therapist sitting behind you writing on a notepad while you talk about your mother…That may have happened years ago or in the movies but it doesn’t really happen here. It looks and feels a lot more like two people having a discussion…but it is much, much more than that.
It’s genuine treatment.
It takes what was once some shapeless, undefined thing inside your mind and turns it into a workable, moldable package of information that can be reshaped and edited.
Sometimes we choose to keep our most complex problems to ourselves…either because we have decided that the the problems are better left secret or that we really don’t believe they would be worth sharing…over time, however, those problems can start to fester and cause continual cognitive/emotional “damage” that can lead to things like anxiety, depression, distorted thinking, or many other psychiatric problems.
It’s at this point that many people seek the “extra help” that counseling provides.
What does the therapist actually do?
Therapists are good listeners. They are also good reflectors…not unlike a good mirror with a particular kind of frame. They take a lot of information coming from the client and they reflect back the more salient and profound things in order to help the client hear it from the other direction. This allows the information to be highlighted and considered for being worked on.
The effect this has cannot be underestimated for its value.
Do therapists offer good advice? Sometimes, yes…but honestly it is the client that is really driving the bus on this. The advice is really formed and constructed in the client themselves and it’s a matter of allowing it to surface. There is a lot of power in allowing yourself to figure out your own problems! Therapists help facilitate allowing a client to express his/her own advice.
Therapists are also good at keeping your information confidential…In fact, there is really no treatment at all without the tight confidentiality in counseling—It builds trust and develops an alliance.
In this way, you are welcomed in as the co-collaborator for your own treatment.
What eventually happens…
Over the course of at least a few sessions, you may start to notice less of the symptoms that prompted you to look into therapy…goals are set and benchmarks are passed.
Increasingly, you will have more and more ability to take control over the original well-spring of toxic thoughts and troublesome feelings that brought you in…you may even start to feel lighter and more confident.
Eventually, your beliefs start to compliment your increased energy and support your brighter mood…you are creating a structure in your mind that turns the negative problems into positive experiences.
With some clients, a deeper sense of wisdom and broad perspective-shift is accomplished. A strong sense of discovering their authentic selves! This is no small thing!
The wonderful part about this is that you get to take it all with you…You are the one doing all of the “heavy lifting” …Learning how to be your own therapist. Individualized, tailor-made lessons for your own inner world and the ability to interact successfully with the collective outer world around you.