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| People who want help with their emotional pain or are interested in personal growth, may want to
enter into therapy. Therapy involves talking with a trained professional about things such as symptoms, problems,
and understanding one 's self. Trained professionals have formal education and professional experience with problems
in daily life including mental illnesses. They have a moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to look out for
their patients best interests. |
One of the biggest misconception about therapy is that seeing a therapist is a sign of mental
illness. In fact, seeing a therapist is a sign of mental health!
While the possibility exists of being diagnosed with a mental disorder, only people who are in touch with themselves
are able to recognize when they have a problem and need help.
Therapists help patients in many ways:
- Help patients understand and cope with their illnesses.
- Empathize with their patients and help them understand why they behave the way they do.
- Help patients make positive changes by discussing their past behavior.
- Help patients discover why they think certain thoughts and how these thoughts affect their feelings.
- Help patients to identify and repair problems with relationships.
Therapy and Medication in Combination
Frequently, patients are treated both with therapy and with medication. Medication can reduce
the symptoms of an illness so that
the patient can work more effectively in psychotherapy.
Not All Psychotherapy Is Psychoanalysis
Many people have misconceptions about what psychotherapy is. Some people think psychotherapy
involves laying on a couch and talking with a psychoanalyst who just says "tell me more." In fact, very
few people receive this kind of therapy. The idea of lying on a couch while a therapist asks you questions is a
thing of the past. Psychotherapy involves sitting comfortably face to face with a therapist and focusing on specific
problems. Most modern therapies focus on reducing symptoms quickly and returning the patient to a relatively normal
level of functioning.
Confidentiality
Anything you tell a therapist or a therapy group should be kept strictly confidential. Under
most circumstances, an ethical therapist will never repeat what you said without your explicit permission. However,
there are some limitations to a therapist 's confidentiality. A therapist is legally obligated to inform someone
if what you tell them involves harm to you or someone else. Also, unlike a conversation with a priest or an attorney,
a conversation with your therapist is not privileged. This means that the conversation and your therapist 's case
records can be subpoenaed in a court of law.
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