Self-care isn’t just face masks, lavender candles, Netflix-nights and eating that last donut. One of the most powerful forms of self-care takes a little bit more work, but for the potential of a lot more benefit — talk therapy.
Talk therapy entails talking to or working with, a mental health practitioner primarily about your mental or emotional concerns. It is commonly used as a treatment for depression, anxiety, phobias, addictions, eating disorders or difficult life events such as losing your job or a family member.
However, you don’t have to have a diagnosed mental health condition or to hit rock-bottom to benefit from therapy. Therapy is not an extreme measure or the last resort. Talk therapy can serve as a preventative form of treatment. If you are going through a low period, it can help you manage smaller issues (even physical ailments) so that they don’t turn into major problems.
There are numerous names for it — insight therapy, talk therapy, psychotherapy, counselling — but whatever you call it, the wealth of potential benefits are the same.
- Releasing the flow
One of the most obvious yet important benefits of talk therapy is the experience of catharsis. Therapy can be a great outlet for releasing pent-up emotions — and just sharing what you are thinking and feeling can be enormously beneficial in itself. Yes, close friends and family can sometimes play that role but not always, and not always as effective as we might suppose…
2. Being Listened to and Understood
We are frequently told that if we are struggling, we should talk to someone. However, talking to friends or family can hinder open and honest communication. We may fear being judged by those close to us and so we sugar-coat, down-play or avoid the truth or complexity of what we are dealing with. A therapist is a trained professional and is there to listen without judgement.
Even if you do have a strong network of friends and family, it’s important to recognise that feeling alone is not just the absence of people in your life, it can also be the absence of feeling understood. Even the closest of companions can struggle to empathise, or to explore the problems you are dealing with. Well-meaning friends can also try too quickly to “fix” your problems before having a thorough understanding of what those problems are. Everyone has their own biases, their world-view shaped by their unique experiences. Therapists or counsellors, on the other hand, are trained to take an impartial and objective perspective.
3. Training your Brain
Just like working your muscles in the gym, your brain too can be coached into improved performance and function.
Thanks to brain-imaging technology, we now know that psychotherapy can have a palpable effect on activity in the brain. The amygdala (responsible for fear) and prefrontal cortex (responsible for self-referential thoughts) in particular show significant changes in periods of distress. So, people with depression and anxiety have an excessive function in the amygdala and diminished function in the prefrontal cortex.
A 2011 report analysing 63 studies has shown that after a course of psychotherapy, the brain’s function in these two areas bounced back to a healthy state, resulting in a “normalisation” or balance of the ‘fear network’. In simple words, on a biological level, psychotherapy improves your brain’s ability to process emotion and thought.
4. Scheduling-in Emotions
With our jam-packed to-do lists, many of us repress emotions subconsciously or in the name of “convenience”. With so much else on our plate, it can be difficult to make processing emotions a priority. Setting allocated time aside and “having” to attend an appointment with a therapist increases your accountability.
It can also be comforting to know that if any obstacle comes up during your week, you have someone you can talk to. In this sense, a structure can be liberating.
Whilst feelings cannot be neatly compressed into a 1-hour session, having a time dedicated to processing feelings of sadness, grief, regret or guilt, can reduce the likelihood that these emotions, subconscious or otherwise, will pop up unexpectedly during your week and cause a breakdown or reduction of productivity or focus.
5. Improving Your Physical Wellbeing
Mental health is not ‘all in your head’. it affects our physical wellbeing more than we realise. Some people experience physical symptoms because of poor mental health, before they realise the real cause. For example, many people may struggle with chronic back pain or insomnia because they are subconsciously stressed.
Indeed, when it comes to persistent stress or anger, high blood pressure is a major symptom. In this case, Linden & Moseley (2006) have shown that psychotherapy produced the same reductions in blood pressure as antihypertensive medication. A hugely significant discovery.
6. Increasing Empathy for Yourself and Others
Instead of putting yourself down and labelling yourself as “lazy”, you may realise that you avoid making effort, not because you “can’t be bothered” or “lack motivation”, but because of a deep-rooted fear of failure. Understanding this can enable you to forgive yourself and nurture your self-esteem.
Similarly, as you awaken to your thought patterns and experiences you can empathise with the behaviour and conclusions of those around you, enabling you to have more constructive interactions with others.
7. Managing Emotions
One of the reasons some people may avoid therapy is that they see it as a distinctly emotional experience for “emotional people”. While it can be very emotional during or just after a session, therapy can help to alleviate negative emotions over time.
‘Bottling up’ negative emotions keep them there and can even strengthen them as they begin to fester in your mind. Recognising and giving voice to your emotions can help you let them go.
Indeed, a study conducted by the University of California showed how just by labelling an emotion, such as ‘this is anger’ or ‘this is jealousy’ resulted in a ‘decreased response in the amygdala — the part of the brain responsible for experiencing emotions. UCLA professor Matthew D. Lieberman puts it this way: “In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses.”
We are often guided by our emotions without even realising it. Therapy can equip you to decrease the power your subconscious or conscious emotions have over you.
8. Growing in Self -Awareness
Self-awareness is an invaluable trait when it comes to life and relationship satisfaction. Recognising your emotions is the first step to understanding yourself and improving your mindset.
Emotions and feelings, when confined to our minds, can feel messy, nonsensical and abstract. Naturally, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. But by articulating your struggles, you are forced to present them more clearly and logically — giving your problems shape. Marian Margulies compares this process to writing: “The more you write, the more you know what you are trying to say — it clarifies your thinking.”
After you have said these thoughts out-loud, you naturally come to the point where you’re asking: what now? How do I alleviate this?
9.Getting to the Root of the Problem
“If you’re not getting to the cause of the pain,” says psychologist Marian Margulies, “you’re essentially chained to the past. Psychotherapy gets to the root.”
Indeed, therapy’s ability to dig deep into the origins of your issues could explain why those experiencing anxiety and depression are far less likely to relapse if they see a therapist. Hollon, DeReubeis, Shelton (2005) found that for those using an only medication, 76.2% relapsed. However, out of those who also used psychotherapy, only 30.8% relapsed. It’s no surprise then, that psychologist Shannon Kolakowski claims that for mental health conditions “medication alone is a disservice.”
10. Equipping Yourself for the Future
Obstacles in life are inevitable. However, unhealthy coping mechanisms are not. Some of life’s problems cannot simply be taken away — but therapy can equip you to respond constructively. By understanding yourself on a deeper level and having been guided in healthy coping mechanisms, you can reap the benefits of therapy far beyond the course of your treatment. Indeed, Jonathan Shelder, speaking about psychotherapy patients, proclaims that “the understanding they gain is global.”
The short-term effects of therapy can vary from exhaustion to feeling energised, from upset to relief. However, the long-term benefits can be monumental. Taking concrete action on your mental health can be in and of itself purposeful and empowering.
Talk therapy has the potential to be helpful for anyone, the only way to decide if it is right for you is to give it a go.
