7 Ways Psychotherapy Can Help

Human beings are self-healers, but sometimes we need a supportive ear or helping hand to guide the way. Psychotherapy is designed to help individuals experiencing a wide array of psychological challenges and emotional difficulties to improve, nurture, and maintain their mental health and well-being.

Here are seven ways psychotherapy can enhance your capacity as a self-healer, regardless of where you are at in the lifecycle.

Getting to the Root of an Issue

By encouraging us to see ourselves as whole beings with our own unique strengths, values, identities, and lived experiences, psychotherapy can help us uncover the psychological root cause(s) of negative thought patterns, beliefs, and behaviours that may be preventing us from functioning optimally.

Processing Trauma

Trauma is both overt and covert. Sometimes it looks like war, poverty, surviving abuse, or another tragic event, while other times it looks like discrimination, the loss of a loved one, or an emotionally tumultuous childhood. When our physical or emotional safety is threatened, we automatically go into survival mode. Depending on the nature of our trauma(s), our nervous systems may remain stuck in survival mode long after the threat is gone. The impact this has on our lives can be far reaching. Psychotherapy can help us reflect on, better understand, and process our trauma(s) while also dealing with related symptoms, which may include lasting physical and emotional distress.

Forgiveness & Letting Go

Honouring the past and losing yourself in it is a delicate balance. By opening ourselves to forgiveness and giving ourselves permission to let go, we acknowledge that we are not what has happened to us but whom we choose to become. Psychotherapy can help us get to a place where we’re able to acknowledge the pain and damage of our experience(s), while also feeling able to release the related fear, sadness, anger, etc. for the purpose of our well-being.

Emotional Regulation & Managing Difficult Emotions

Often, when we experience big emotions, this is our body’s way of signaling to us that we have an underlying need that is going unmet. What presents as anger may be sadness, shame, or even stress. But it is difficult to change a negative thought, behaviour, or habit without first recognizing the related emotions bubbling beneath the surface. Psychotherapy can help us access and recognize these emotions so that we feel equipped to manage them when they pop up and better understand ourselves.

Life Transitions & Life Purpose

As they say, life happens. And when it does, we aren’t always prepared. Psychotherapy can help us navigate difficult life transitions with more grace. It can also help us get clear on our values, hopes, dreams, and goals, so that we can begin building and/or rebuilding the fulfilling lives we envision for ourselves.

Self-Acceptance, Self-Worth, & Self-Esteem

Negative self-narratives are often a biproduct of hardship. These powerful stories impact the way we see ourselves and how we show up in the world. Psychotherapy can help us embrace what makes us unique, identify our strengths, celebrate our accomplishments, let go of the things we can’t change, and most importantly cultivate compassion for ourselves and the things we’ve been through.

Coping Skills & Self-Care

If you’re reading this, you’ve been coping with life’s challenges thus far. Bravo! But there’s difference between coping and coping effectively. Psychotherapy can help us cultivate healthy coping skills. When we recognize our own needs and know how to tend to them, we can manage the difficult situations life throws our way with more confidence and ease.

A Final Word

At our clinic we take a mind-body approach to supporting mental health, offering Psychotherapy, Naturopathic Mental Health Support, and even IV Therapy to help support better mental and emotional well-being.