When you hear ‘therapy’, you may picture someone laying on a couch and discussing their feelings. This is a limited understanding there is much more to therapy than the stereotypical counseling session. Finding the right type of therapy helps us resolve past traumas, provides space to process our emotions, and critically helps us avoid spiraling into unhealthy behavior loops.
Broadening your view of therapy can help narrow down the type that will work for you. Here are some options to help you get started:
What You Can Start Doing Now
Mindfulness
You can practice mindfulness anywhere, anytime. Whenever you feel distant, anxious, or depressed, you have an opportunity to practice mindfulness. To do so, focus intensely on what you’re feeling and thinking at that very moment. If your mind wanders, bring it back to the present. Here are a few examples of exercises you can try.
Online therapy services.
There are many pros of online counseling services: it’s affordable, accessible, and can be just as effective as in-person sessions. Most services also offer the option of texting, calling, or video chatting with a therapist. Check out a comprehensive list of the most recommended online mental health services here.
DIY therapy books
Therapy books allow you to take your healing process at your own pace. They can also teach you the skills needed to deal with overwhelming emotions such as depression and anxiety. There are a variety of books you can choose from, but here are a few.
Journaling
Mental health professionals often say that the best way to get bad thoughts out of your mind is to put them on paper. Journaling can help with a wide array of issues, like managing anxiety, reducing stress, or coping with depression. You can practice positive self-talk, create a gratitude journal, or prioritize any concerns and fears you may have.
Binaural beats therapy
Binaural beats therapy entails listening to two slightly different frequencies in each ear that puts you into an almost meditative state. This state can reduce anxiety, foster a positive mood, increase concentration, and more. Learn more about it here.
Lesser-Known Therapies
Transpersonal therapy
Transpersonal therapy takes a holistic approach to healing by focusing on mental, social, physical, and emotional needs. This therapeutic style examines spirituality and its connection to the mind.
Narrative therapy
Narrative therapy emphasizes making you an expert in your own life through your experiences. It allows you to think of your experiences as stories that have shaped who you are and lets you identify your core values, skills, and knowledge to help you live a better life. Narrative therapy can benefit those with anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
Core Process Psychotherapy (CPP)
CPP is an inward approach through which patients become deeply aware of their bodies and mental processes in order to complete healing and self-exploration. It can help those with eating disorders, anxiety and depression, PTSD, low self-esteem, and more.
Schema Therapy
Schema therapy treats mental health concerns and personality disorders that don’t respond to other treatments. Schemas are the unhealthy patterns that we develop in childhood when our basic needs aren’t met. This type of therapy allows you to identify and heal schemas, learn how to meet those emotional needs in healthy ways, and cope with past schemas.
Check out this list of more than 50 different types of therapy.
How to Get Started With Therapy
Finding a place to start can be the hardest part of the healing process. But, if you start with the fundamentals and build from there, it can make all the difference. For example:
- Find out what, if any, apprehensions you have against therapy. Most people are hesitant to start therapy because of the stigma that is attached to it.
- Figure out which type of therapy works for you. The most effective way of getting excited about and sticking to therapy is finding a method that suits you best.
- Do your research. Finding a therapist that is suited for you can be a difficult and time-consuming task, and it’s okay to try out a few practitioners before making a decision. Due to the intimate nature of the relationship, it’s essential that you feel comfortable around your therapist.
Wellzesta
Wellzesta is centered around providing holistic wellness to residents and staff, with emotional well-being at the forefront. Wellzesta’s Life and Elevate platforms provide daily positive articles and videos that allow them to focus on themselves and empower them to put their well-being first.
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