How does therapy actually work, how do you find a good one, and what’s the difference between counseling/therapy/psychiatrists/psychologists/etc.?
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HEADS UP LONG COMMENT!
There are a lot of different kinds of therapy. I’ll try to give the best description and advice I can based on personal experience.
-CBT aka cognitive behavioural therapy. This is usually a group based therapy, that focuses on teaching you how to identify problems, learn how to fight problematic feelings and thoughts, and it teaches you a lot about taking a step back to see how your thoughts affect your actions. It’s really good and it really helps with coping. CBT is a short term therapy following several modules for a few weeks or months.
-DBT aka dialectical behavioural therapy. This therapy is often group based as well and also follows several modules as a short term therapy. It builds off of CBT but focuses more on validation, social aspects, and relationships. DBT helps correct destructive behaviour and negative thinking patterns and teaches you how to recognize and identify these problems.
-One on one therapy. This is exactly what it sounds like. You privately meet with a therapist, usually for around an hour, and you talk about your, stresses, feelings, problems with a professional who went to school to help you find solutions and offer knowledgeable advice on these things. This therapy is long term and very helpful in finding helping you with any problem or stress that you approach your therapist with. If you want to vent and cry or have a more serious discussion that’s what they are there for. They will validate your feelings in the right situations and still offer advice on what to do or how to manage in the problem. If you have some trauma or heavy experiences, they will help you open up and help you recover as it is mostly affecting your life in small ways in the present. Your therapist is someone that you go to who you can talk to about anything, even stuff you don’t feel comfortable talking to your friends or family about. Any conversation that happens with your therapist is confidential unless you want to hurt yourself or someone else.
Now to answer the next part. Counselling is usually short term and is used for more general issues. Therapy is long term and focuses on a broader spectrum of issues. Psychologists usually take on people with more severe mental health issues. They can diagnose disorder based on studying behaviour and can help treat the issue. Psychology is a PHD while a therapist is a Masters. Psychologists sometimes work with psychiatrists to provide proper treatment. A psychiatrist is the only one of those who can prescribe you with medication. Their main focus is figuring out what medication you need and what specific variant of medication is best suited for you. A psychiatrist will often recommend seeing a psychologist while you are getting help to get the best results for long term treatment.
Lastly, finding a good therapist can take some time. It’s important to find someone you actually feel comfortable talking to. Sometimes it can take a couple sessions to feel comfortable opening up, but if you still aren’t feeling too great about it, don’t be afraid to look for a different therapist. If you feel like you can talk to them about anything, and also think the advice and solutions they offer you are helpful, you’ve found someone good. Personally I found that looking for my own therapist online gave me better results than one recommended by my school or family doctor. Where I live they offer “sliding scale therapy” in some places. These are students who’s are finishing their masters or returning to do their PHDs. Not only is it cheaper, I’ve found it so much easier to click with someone who speaks to me the same way I speak to them while still being professional (it may have also helped that I felt more comfortable because the were closer to my age). I’ve found that I like behavioural one on one therapy the best, because while it’s still a normal session your therapist will pick up on small physical behaviours that you do while talking about specific issues and figures out how it’s subconsciously related to a problem. ex, sitting with your arms and legs close to your body or holding a pillow when talking about a certain issue can be a boundary problem. You are putting an object between you and the other individual or staying compact subconsciously. It’s a habit you probably developed from negative a serious of negative past events and your body is showing hints of that in ways that you don’t usually notice. They help you open up about those events and lower the walls you put up to help you heal.
Personally, I know I’ve found a good therapist when they aren’t treating my as “just another patient” and are actually engaging and attentive when I am talking. It’s important not to get discouraged when trying to find the right fit for you and it’s always good to ask someone who likes their therapist how they found them.
*this is only personal knowledge and understanding, it’s always good to do your own research to get the best understanding and most accurate results*
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