Everyone deserves a happy and fulfilling life, and therapy is another tool in your health toolbox to help you achieve those goals. Therapy can help you change uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. But the unfortunate reality is that too many people are held back from seeking therapy due to some common myths and misconceptions. Let’s take a look at some of the common myths that may be keeping you or a loved one from seeking the help you or they need.Â
Myth: Therapy Takes Too Long and Is Too Expensive
Reality: Therapy doesn’t have to take years of work for a person to see improvements in their mental health. Many clients see a reduction in anxiety and fear, and even get completely over phobic avoidance after only one or two sessions of exposure therapy. Through years of training, therapists can offer you strategies and tools that help you deal with a variety of mental health challenges. A therapist can help you learn to manage issues such as anxiety, stress and depression so that unwelcome thoughts and negative emotions don’t dominate your life.Â
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that helps clients treat such issues as substance misuse, eating disorders, trauma-related conditions and insomnia. According to research from Brown University, just 6 to 8 sessions provide a median effective dose of therapy. Insurers are also required to offer some mental health coverage, making therapy more accessible and affordable than ever.Â
Myth: Therapy Is for People With Severe Mental Illness
Reality: Even if you’ve had a relatively uneventful life, everyone can use a little help now and then. Therapy isn’t only for people with severe mental health challenges. Therapy can help you deal with work stress, relationship issues and anxiety and depression. The coping strategies you learn in therapy can help you for the rest of your life.
You don’t have to have experienced trauma to benefit from therapy either. Therapy can help you let go of past resentments and limiting beliefs from your past that are holding you back and keeping you from reaching your goals. This doesn’t mean you have to spend hours discussing your childhood. The therapist’s training helps them identify and address underlying issues that surface using a range of therapeutic techniques, ranging from creative arts therapy to experiential therapy.Â
Myth: The Therapist Will Judge You
Reality: Therapists are licensed and certified, and your therapy sessions are completely confidential. Therapists have heard it all, and it’s very hard to shock a therapist with your revelations. They’re not there to judge you, and good therapists respect both your boundaries and your privacy.Â
By law, a therapist can’t share your information with anyone. The therapist isn’t your friend or confidante. Therapists are experienced, trained professionals who offer support, empathy and compassion while giving you the tools you need to move past the challenges that are holding you back. If the only thing keeping you from finding a good therapist is your fear of judgment, it’s time to let that go and find the help you need.
Myth: Therapy Is a Sign of Weakness
Reality: Therapy is not a sign of weakness. Seeking therapy is the opposite of weakness because many people are afraid to take the steps they need to get help. It’s courageous and takes strength to admit you need help and then to go find it.
Thinking that therapy is a sign of weakness is an unfortunate myth that tends to hit men especially hard. Societal expectations for masculinity often shame men and either delay them from pursuing help or keep them from getting help completely. This stigma hurts not only men but society as a whole when men don’t get the mental health treatment they need. Men are vulnerable to seeing therapy as a sign of weakness, and this dangerous myth may be one of the reasons contributing to a higher suicide rate in men than women. Men are almost four times as likely to take their lives as women. Stop worrying about being perceived as weak and get help today.Â
Myth: The Therapist Won’t Understand My Unique Issues
Reality: Every person has different experiences and viewpoints, but that doesn’t mean they can’t understand you. Every one of us is a unique human being with varying experiences and challenges. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t empathise with or understand another person and what they’re going through.Therapists are trained professionals who have spent years learning about the human condition. Despite our differences, people have many universal experiences. The most important aspect of therapy is your relationship with your therapist. A good relationship creates a positive therapy experience in which you’ll be able to learn the tools you need to create a better, more emotionally healthy life.Â
Leave feedback about this