3 Benefits of Mental Health Counselling
In last week’s post we looked at Mental Health vs Mental Illness, and who counselling is for (answer: everyone!). But I know, counselling can seem super intimidating for people who have never tried it before (or worse - had a negative experience of counselling). Feeling hesitant and uncomfortable about the idea of sharing your inner world with a therapist is completely natural. Most people aren’t flying through the office door - or leaping to a zoom call - without some level of doubt and uncertainty. And this is especially true for people who tend to be really good at worrying. Hello, anxiety! Or for people who haven’t had much practice talking about this kind of stuff.
If ever you’re unsure about something it may help to weigh the pros and cons. In fact, understanding the risks and benefits allows you to make an informed decision about whether you’re ready to try counselling (it’s your legal right).
I’m not going to lie to you, counselling has some downsides. It can be stressful at times, sure. You’ll have to carve out some time for appointments, obviously. And sometimes when we grow and the people around us don’t, a strain is put on our relationships. Ugh.
But, there are tons of benefits to counselling.
In my opinion, many, many more benefits than risks.
As an attachment-based trauma therapist I strive to offer a safe and rich space for clients to tap into their healing potential. Here are 3 ways I see counselling improving mental health and promoting healing for clients in my practice:
1. Connection
Connection is a fundamental human need. We can’t truly thrive without it and when we lack it we suffer. No doubt, when we experience rejection or isolation our nervous system responds in just the same way as when we experience physical pain (I’ll link some #science below for my fellow nerds).
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Arguably the most helpful thing about finding a therapist is the potential for connection fostered by a therapeutic relationship. That's not to say a therapist will fulfill all your connection needs and be an appropriate substitute for a social support network. Don’t go ditching your BFF to hang with your therapist (unless maybe BFF is toxic… in which case, a therapist can help with that).
But a therapist can (and should) help you to feel supported; to experience a sense of safety, of being seen and valued; and to experience comfort within the relationship.
For many clients, these are novel experiences that create a new foundation or blueprint from which to experience social relationships with more security and greater fulfillment than before therapy.
2. A Sense of Calm
Wooooooosaaaah.
Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash
A good trauma therapist understands how the nervous system works and can help you work with it. Getting to know how your brain and body respond to stress is an integral piece of the wellness puzzle. Just as important as understanding your triggers is figuring out what works to calm your system.
Truly, our mental health is stronger and our resiliency more robust, when we know how to create a sense of calm in our body and mind. When we are able to soothe ourselves and ease our busy minds, we are in a much better position to thrive in our relationships, work, hobbies and so on. This is often a major focus of therapy and clients typically report amazing changes in the way they navigate the world once they have a good handle on this.
3. Increased Clarity
Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash
Often clients come to therapy with feelings of confusion, frustration, and overwhelm. Combine these experiences with a sense of stuckness or looping, and people are left feeling hopeless.
These are good signs your nervous system may be in protection or survival mode, which makes thinking clearly pretty flippin’ challenging. That’s #science too!
An external brain (your therapist) can help to organize your thoughts and reflect them back to you such that you're better able to process feelings, think productively, make decisions, and move forward.
This is particularly true after a sense of connection and a sense of calm have been well-established.
While counselling can seem like an intimidating process, existing without a sense of connection, calm, and clarity seems remarkably more difficult, IMO.
For my fellow nerds, here’s an interesting fMRI study examining the impacts of social exclusion, and if you like to take your science with a dose of animation and humour this 10 minute video on the sympathetic nervous system might be your jam!
These are just 3 ways that counselling can help when life is overwhelming. There are many, many more! What benefits of counselling do you find most helpful? Let me know in the comments!