The 10 benefits of going to psychological therapy
Psychotherapy brings you multiple benefits, besides helping you to know yourself better.
For some people, going to a psychologist is synonymous with being a weak person, but in reality, going to psychological therapy can make you a stronger person emotionally, and it can provide you with tools to be able to adapt better to difficult situations situations that may arise throughout your life.
In this article we will see a summary of the main benefits of attending psychotherapythat is to say, the areas of the life in which to count on the aid of psychologists contributes well-being.
What are the benefits of psychotherapy?
As we have seen, historically, to resort to professional support for issues related to mental health has been considered a taboo, a fact deserving of stigma. However, over the decades it has become normalized, for a good reason: everyone may need to go to a psychologist eventually, and on the other hand, psychotherapy works.
Therefore, going to therapy is an act of intelligence and courage.It is therefore an act of intelligence and courage, since in many cases the person who needs help is not aware that he or she has a problem or avoids facing reality. Many people are still unaware at what point they should think about seeing a psychologist, mainly because of false beliefs about what psychotherapy is and who it is aimed at.
A psychotherapist is a mental health professional who specializes in cognitive (thinking), affective (emotions) and behavioral (conduct) areas, and who can help you to empower yourself to face the challenges of life. can help you become empowered in the face of everyday circumstances and improve your quality of life..
However, beyond knowing what psychotherapists do technically, it is important to know in what sense this work is beneficial to patients. For this reason, here you will find a summary of the benefits of psychological benefits of psychological therapy.
1. It helps you feel better
By facing with a psychotherapist those problems that cause you Pain or discomfort, and being able to talk confidently and freely about yourself to someone who does not judge you about your feelings and your repressed experiences, you are letting your hidden thoughts and feelings be expressed, which is beneficial for your well-being. is beneficial to your well-being.
When you express how you feel and release your emotional burden, you feel relieved. This is known as catharsis, a Greek word that refers to purification and is used in psychology to explain the process of releasing negative emotions.
2. It teaches you tools to manage conflict
The conflicts are a normal part of people's lives and, on many occasions, are necessary for personal growth or coexistence with other individuals. Psychotherapy sessions teach you new ways (more adaptive) to solve problems.
In addition, it can help you to perceive conflicts in a different way, so that they affect you less and you are able to relativize the importance of tense situations. In this way, your way of adapting to new day-to-day circumstances will be much better and, in general, you will have fewer difficulties in your personal relationships or even in the professional sphere.
3. It helps you to change limiting beliefs.
With our beliefs and values we give meaning and coherence to our model of the world. The same situation can be experienced differently by each person. Beliefs help us to simplify the world that surrounds us, and they are interpretations of reality and not facts.
Some beliefs are maladaptive or limiting and it is necessary to correct them, because they are not innate, we acquire them throughout our life. Therefore, a psychologist can help you to identify them, the psychologist can help you to identify them, analyze them, test them and modify them..
4. It helps you to live in harmony with yourself and with others.
The introspection that takes place when attending therapy allows you to know yourself better and to overcome, for example, an existential crisis. In addition, psychotherapy is effective for work problems (burnout, stress, etc.) or relationship problems.
Therefore, psychological therapy can help you to solve these types of problems, and is beneficial for finding yourself and relating to others more effectively.. This will positively affect your mental health, and allow you to find inner peace and well-being.
5. Give professional advice
The psychotherapist is an expert in psychological therapy, and has extensive knowledge about human behaviorHe/she has studied psychology in a regulated university. That is why he does not apply "recipes" to solve psychological problems, but studies each particular case and works from the beliefs, habits and life context of the person who comes to therapy.
Psychological therapy is not telling your problems to a friend or family member, because there is a solid base (both theoretical and practical) supported by science. But this is not about applying advice that comes written in a manual, but about helping to modify behaviors and thought patterns to adapt them to an objective. That is why its results are long-lasting, since they are based on the characteristics of the person and the environment in which he/she lives.
6. It empowers you to face life
One of the objectives of the psychotherapy is that the relationship between the therapist and the patient is not one of dependency.. Therefore, the psychologist helps you to be master of yourself and to acquire new skills that will be useful in day to day life.
To attend psychological therapy is not to wait for the psychologist to solve your problems, it is to learn to accept and love who you are and to put the necessary will to change what causes you discomfort or prevents you from growing..
7. It helps you to know yourself
In psychotherapy, we go through the process of questioning what we thought we knew about ourselves. That is to say that in the sessions with the psychologist, a context of self-knowledge is created..
This is not only stimulating from an existential point of view; it also helps to detect problematic behavior patterns and certain important emotions, to know how to manage them and channel them well without them complicating our daily life.
In addition, several of the techniques applied entail following a series of guidelines in order to, on a daily basis, become accustomed to being aware of the different ways in which our problems make us feel, what they lead us to feel, and how they make us feel.We are also aware of what they lead us to think, and how and when these forms of discomfort arise.
8. Provide an environment in which to express yourself honestly.
In addition to the knowledge and professionalism that the psychologist must show, the environment of trust that is created between the two of you will allow you to express the problems and feelings that you consider more that you consider more delicate (and that possibly you would not tell anyone else).
The psychologist will not judge you and, in addition, has the necessary training to create a good environment of trust and empathy so that you can express yourself without fear.
9. Helps to improve social skills
Psychotherapy is not only focused on the psychological processes of managing emotions and thoughts; it can also be focused "outward". can also be focused "outward" from the person, towards personal relationships..
This involves improving communication skills, the ability to manage anxiety when meeting new people, learning to resolve conflicts in an assertive manner, etc.
10. It helps to prevent emotional crises and relapses.
Another of the benefits of psychotherapy is that it teaches people to understand the psychological to understand the psychological mechanisms that activate the symptoms of the disorder they were suffering from. (in case they have been to a psychologist because of a disorder), so that they can lead a lifestyle that minimizes the chances of it happening again. This is very important in the case of illnesses such as addictions, for example, where relapses must be prevented.
Psychological therapy changes your brain
Neurological studies are finding more and more empirical evidence of the ability of psychotherapy to modify brain structures and improve them, achieving a better vital attitude to face the day to day.
You can check it out by reading this article by psychologist Eduardo Valenciano:
- "Psychotherapy produces changes in the brain".
Confidentiality of the sessions
The relationship with the psychologist is confidential and strictly professional. As it is expressed in the ethical and deontological code of the Official College of PsychologistsThe psychology professional must guarantee the secrecy and confidentiality of everything referred to him/her by the person who consults him/her.
Therefore, everything you say in a therapeutic session will be a secret between you and your therapist. This allows for a relational framework in which very intimate fears can be dealt with.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)