What is psychotherapy? What are the benefits of psychotherapy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psychotherapy is a type of therapeutic method where a patient talks to a psychologist or psychiatrist to help them overcome problems or increase happiness. It\u2019s one of the most well-known methods of therapy and has many benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Below, we\u2019ll look at four benefits of psychotherapy so you can decide if it\u2019s right for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bessel van der Kolk, a Dutch psychiatrist and the author of The Body Keeps the Score<\/em><\/a>, says that talking about trauma is a benefit of psychotherapy. Talking and acknowledging your trauma is a critical piece of the healing process for a few reasons. First, talking about your trauma breaks the silence and isolation of keeping it a secret; although many trauma survivors are inclined to suppress their traumatic memories in an attempt to gain control over the overwhelming emotions they bring up, failing to acknowledge your trauma and the reactions it triggers only inhibits you from managing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, talking about your experience and emotions relieves the incredible amount of energy and attention required to suppress them and allows you to work through your psychological wounds. Bottling up such overwhelming feelings doesn\u2019t make them go away, and in the meantime, it saps your energy from engaging in the present and pursuing goals<\/a>; as a result, you\u2019re likely to feel bored and disengaged from life. Despite your efforts to suppress the trauma, your chronic hypervigilance is continuing to trigger stress hormones\u2014causing physical ailments such as headaches, muscle pain, and digestive issues, as well as irrational emotions and behavior. You can\u2019t deal with these symptoms until you\u2019ve identified what\u2019s causing them.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Third, when you open up to other people, you create the opportunity to feel heard and understood, which activates your limbic brain and helps in the physiological healing process. Sharing your experience with others can help break down the isolation of trauma and reconnect you with your community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: The Body Keeps the Score Emotional Intelligence<\/em><\/a> by Daniel Goleman says one benefit of psychotherapy is that we can learn to handle our emotions better. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) victims can also relearn a different, more normal response to their specific triggers. The amygdala will always retain its response to that initial emergency alert, but victims can work on developing an ability to suppress the emergency alert through their rational mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are 3 stages of recovering from trauma<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once we\u2019ve learned an emotional response to something, the emotion hardly ever changes or goes away\u2014but we can learn to control that emotion and how we let it affect our actions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why people have patterns that show up regardless of the situation–for instance, if we feel emotionally neglected by our parents and learn to hide our emotions to avoid the feeling of rejection, then as adults we will respond to any perceived neglect by hiding our emotions, whether the person neglecting our feelings is our boss, our spouse, or our children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If PTSD patients can relearn their responses to traumatic events, then people with less intense but still impactful negative memories can also relearn how to respond. Psychotherapy can help in both instances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Emotional Intelligence In It Didn\u2019t Start With You<\/em><\/a>, Mark Wolynn explains that traumatic experiences compromise our ability to recall and process memories, which keeps us captive to their effects. Here\u2019s why this happens: Some trauma is too difficult for us to process, like an unexpected death in the family, a miscarriage, or being in a war zone. When the trauma hits, our bodies go into survival mode. This causes our minds to go blank\u2014not just at the moment but also later when we try to describe what happened. We just can\u2019t find our words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bessel van der Kolk, who we mentioned earlier, has done extensive research showing that trauma blunts the parts of our brain that control speech and allow us to stay present at the moment. <\/strong>This diminishes our ability to accurately recall what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, Wolynn explains, traumatic memories don\u2019t vanish. They get stored\u2014in our bodies and our unconscious<\/strong>. Then, when anything even remotely similar to the trauma occurs, we often experience the same panic and distress as during the initial incident. This can influence our lives in unexpected ways. Maybe last year you were mugged while you were leaving work. Now you break out into a cold sweat near the end of every workday, you can\u2019t bring yourself to go anywhere new unless someone goes with you, and you flinch when your partner reaches for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A benefit of psychotherapy is that once we can name the trauma and capture our experience and feelings in words, we can begin to loosen its grip. <\/strong>Until then, Wolynn says, healing will be elusive\u2014focused only on managing symptoms rather than healing the pain at its source. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nTITLE: It Didn't Start With You Attending psychotherapy isn\u2019t just for understanding your feelings\u2014it\u2019s also for accepting them. Whether you feel depressed or angry, there\u2019s no shame in your emotions. Everyone is human and everyone has these emotions. Talking about your experiences<\/a> and your feelings is one benefit of psychotherapy that can help you heal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Below we\u2019ll look at why knowing your emotions is important for your health, and how a healthy therapist\/patient relationship can make the patient\u2019s recovery process easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emotional Intelligence<\/em><\/a> says that self-awareness is the ability to recognize a feeling as it\u2019s happening to you.<\/strong> Being able to monitor our feelings as they\u2019re occurring helps us understand ourselves and our psychology. The more certain we are about our feelings, the easier it is to make personal decisions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n People who know their emotions are aware of their moods as they happen but can be mindful of how they deal with them. They\u2019re more sure of their boundaries since they know how they\u2019ll feel. They tend towards a positive outlook on life<\/a> since they know they can manage whatever moods are thrown at them. They don\u2019t dwell on bad moods and can get out of ruts faster. They can be mindful of their emotions and manage them successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal is to be self-aware about our emotions, but most people deal with their emotions in one of two unhealthy ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Nonviolent Communication<\/em><\/a>, Marshall B. Rosenberg says that when people begin to focus on identifying and expressing their own emotions, they often pass through three stages: \u201cemotional slavery,\u201d \u201cthe obnoxious stage,\u201d and \u201cemotional liberation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people think a benefit of psychotherapy is to tame their inner critic. Today, most therapists are trained in methods that are compatible with Nonviolent Communication, but that wasn\u2019t always the case. Until the mid-20th century, clinical detachment was the cardinal rule of psychotherapy. <\/strong>Therapists were trained to keep their feet firmly planted in the realm of analysis, not empathy, and to think of themselves as a mirror\u2014an inanimate object that reflects clients\u2019 feelings back to them in an organized way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This practice continued until prominent psychologists began to question whether clinical detachment was really the best way to help someone deal with emotional difficulties. They worried that the hierarchical patient\/therapist relationship prevented therapists from being authentically present with their clients, which in turn prevented clients from feeling fully seen and heard. When clients expressed vulnerability, they were met with cool detachment, which often discouraged clients from sharing more. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psychology has evolved since that time, and modern graduate programs now train aspiring therapists to respond to their clients with empathy and to focus on feelings instead of analyzing and diagnosing. This isn\u2019t universal\u2014in medical contexts where a particular diagnosis determines treatment options or insurance coverage, psychiatrists and psychologists often spend more time debating diagnoses than empathizing with a person\u2019s feelings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a big difference between the diagnostic mindset and the Nonviolent Communication mindset<\/a>. A psychologist who is focused on diagnosing someone will think in terms of \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with this person?\u201d In the same situation, a psychologist practicing NVC would think, \u201cWhat is this person feeling? What do they need? And which of my<\/em> feelings and needs are being triggered by this situation?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Showing up authentically like this requires the therapist to be vulnerable, which evens out the balance of power in the relationship. <\/strong>Therapists still need to be careful not to overshare or to take up clients\u2019 time with their own issues, but overall, using NVC in a therapeutic relationship<\/a> is helpful. Making a genuine human connection<\/a> with a client in pain can be more powerful than years of detached analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nTITLE: Nonviolent Communication Relationship therapy isn\u2019t just for couples in struggling marriages. Even those who go by themselves to therapy can learn more about the relationships they have with others\u2014whether it be with their significant other, parents, or friends. Let\u2019s look at this last benefit of psychotherapy which focuses on the patient\u2019s relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In It Didn\u2019t Start With You<\/em><\/a>, Wolynn recommends that you use insights about past grievances to mend broken relationships. You can do this even if your family members are deceased or if you don’t know where they are<\/strong>. Here are some options to do this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wolynn clarifies that healing these relationships doesn\u2019t mean excusing a parent\u2019s behavior or even necessarily resuming any kind of ongoing connection with a parent. Rather, he says, healing requires dropping the anger-filled, accusatory stories we have about our parents. Releasing those stories isn\u2019t about giving up or giving in for the benefit of our parents. It\u2019s about freeing ourselves so we can move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whereas Wolynn says that mending broken relationships can allow you the freedom to move forward, Minimalism<\/em><\/a> by Joshua Fields Millburn<\/a> and Ryan Nicodemus<\/a> says that sometimes it\u2019s best to end relationships that are only causing harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all change over time. The fact that someone has changed doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t care about you\u2014just that they\u2019ve changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Bessel van der Kolk
\r\nTIME: 40
\r\nREADS: 20.7
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/body-keeps-score-cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: the-body-keeps-the-score-summary-bessel-van-der-kolk
\r\nAMZN_ID: B00G3L1C2K
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nRecovering From Trauma<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Daniel Goleman
\r\nTIME: 52
\r\nREADS: 50.6
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/emotionalintelligence_cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: emotional-intelligence-summary-daniel-goleman
\r\nAMZN_ID: B000JMKVCG
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Getting to the Root of Your Issues <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nAUTHOR: Mark Wolynn
\nTIME: 17
\nREADS: 51.3
\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/it-didn-t-start-with-you-cover.png
\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: it-didnt-start-with-you-summary-mark-wolynn
\nAMZN_ID: XYZ
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. You\u2019ll Learn to Accept Your Feelings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Knowing Your Emotions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Stages of Emotional Liberation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Using Nonviolent Communication in a Therapy Setting<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\nAUTHOR: Marshall B. Rosenberg
\nTIME: 41
\nREADS: 105.6
\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/nonviolent-communication-cover.png
\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: nonviolent-communication-summary-marshall-b-rosenberg
\nAMZN_ID: XYZ
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n4. You\u2019ll Understand Your Relationships Better<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mending Broken Relationships<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ending Toxic Relationships<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n