Do I Need Psychotherapy

Perhaps you are considering therapy because you are in the midst of a difficult life situation or maybe it is something that you have been thinking about for some time. You might be feeling depressed or disconnected from yourself, your work, your desires or other people.

If you are ready to consider feeling and acting differently in your life, and with others, then this may be the time to explore psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy can bring about change in people’s lives. Together we will explore who you know yourself to be, how you are with others, and what life is like for you. How you are right now and your experiences at this moment are of utmost importance. Together we will look at your past experience to potentially shed light on where you find yourself at present.

In our work together we will look at all of the facets that make up you.

The way in which you experience situations, and other people, is shaped both by what is present in your environment and the amalgam of personal experience that is you, doing the responding.

What Psychotherapy Helps

The general answer is that psychotherapy can make a difference in any situation where it would be helpful for you to talk, have someone listen, reflect and respond to your concerns.

More specifically, individuals come to work on concerns such as: anxiety and stress, depression, anger management, grief and loss, trauma, dissatisfaction with work, problems associated with addiction, eating disorders and workaholism. Many of the above mentioned concerns can specifically manifest in symptoms such as: paranoia, obsessive thinking and/or compulsive actions, OCD, masochism, splitting and social isolation to name a few.

Couples get help with communicating with each other; affairs; navigating ‘open’ relationships; working with trauma in one or both partners; trust; lying; issues around differences in ethics and morality; issues in differing sexual desires or preferences; historic relational injuries(attachment traumas); identifying recurring cycles of relating to each other; learning new ways of expressing emotions and thoughts whether they be difficult or tender; building a trust that their relationship is sustainable and that both partners are working to build a lasting, intimate bond with each other.

Clients with previous experience in therapy come when new concerns appear that they’d like to work through or for reasons of wellness and ‘maintenance’. Theirs is the lived experience and knowledge from past psychotherapy treatments that if they keep a state of mental wellness by exercising cognitive, emotional and psychological concerns on a regular basis then they are consciously aware, relationally fit and mentally well to deal with unexpected marathons when they do appear.

If you have questions around whether psychotherapy would be appropriate for your situation go to the ‘Contact Me’ section of this website. Together we can have a conversation about what it is you are experiencing and if psychotherapy might be beneficial to you. This initial consultation or Introductory Session is ‘no-fee’ and lasts about an hour. Introductory Sessions are available to both couples and individuals.

A Word about Self-Assessment

Friends, colleagues, magazines, television, the internet: all wonderful resources to begin our search for information. Who among us has not trusted ‘Google’ to inform us about a mysterious rash, sore muscle or what is considered ‘normal’ in terms of our relationships to alcohol, food, drugs, sex, ourselves or others. Sometimes these searches and conversations can give us some of the words to more thoroughly describe what is happening for us. However, sometimes we will misdiagnose ourselves and either think the absolute worst, which prompts enormous anxiety, or we will suppress important salient facts, either intentionally or not. That is because when we try to deduce what is happening to us on our own, we only have our own perspective to work from.

As human beings, we are meant to be 'in relation'. We generally form groups, belong to associations or teams, live in towns or cities and form relationships. To believe that we have to 'work out' and 'deal with' something as important as our feelings, thoughts and behaviours on our own, is the opposite to what most of us actually need.

Guilt, shame and a mistaken belief that we have to manage our concerns alone, cause many people to remain silent and suffering. These internalized belief-structures around why we have to keep silent are often old defense mechanisms put into place to allow us to survive environments that we had to navigate at earlier times in our lives. That you are even considering the possibility of sharing your experiences means that you are perhaps ready to begin dealing with what is upsetting you in a different way. We don’t begin to consider change until we are ready to allow it in. By reading this right now, you are exploring your readiness. Coming to a no-obligation, no-fee Introductory Session is perhaps the next step.

As a trained psychotherapist, I will listen, reflect, and be witness to your innermost concerns. Together we can bring about the possibility of new perspectives, opportunities, choices and clarity.

Remember, it is contrary to who we are as human beings to have to deal with concerns about our thoughts and feelings on our own. Talking about them in psychotherapy can be the first step towards change.

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