5 Myths About Therapy
The things people get wrong about therapy!
When it comes to therapy, there's a lot of misinformation. And that could discourage people from seeking help for their mental health. Not only can this contribute to your emotional struggles in the present, but it can increase your risk for
health concerns such as heart disease
. Busting myths about therapy can encourage people to seek help and improve their mental and physical health outcomes. If you're ready to be happier and healthier but need a nudge, consider how the myths below have impacted your life.
Only "Crazy" People Need Therapy
One factor that holds people back from seeking help is the belief that therapy is only for mentally ill people. But that couldn't be further from the truth. People seek out therapy for various reasons, including coping with complex events such as a breakup or death of a loved one, building their self-esteem, and strengthening their relationships. The purpose of therapy is learning more about yourself and building skills, and who doesn't occasionally need to do that from time to time? We'll all struggle with difficulties in our lives.
The real problem with this myth is that it stigmatizes those who seek therapy and, more specifically, people with mental illnesses. According to NAMI, some people do have mental illnesses (around 21% of adults in the United States ) that impact their lives. But having a mental illness doesn't make someone less worthy of love and the chance to have a happy and healthy life. Nor does it mean someone is entirely out of touch with reality. In fact, going to therapy is taking responsibility for mental and emotional health, even if they developed through no fault of your own, which is a sign of maturity and wisdom.
Psychotherapy Is Only for the Most Severe Issues
This myth goes hand in hand with the previous myth. If someone is seeing a therapist, they must have serious problems. So if your problems seem small, it's not worth seeking therapy. But that flies in the face of logic. If you're feeling sick, you won't wait until you are on your deathbed to see a doctor. So why should your mental health be any different?
You don't need to wait until you're desperately miserable to schedule an appointment with a therapist. Therapy can prevent you from feeling that way in the first place and can be most effective if you seek it before things become too dire. Perhaps if more people realized this, they'd wait for far less than the average of 11 years between the first appearance of mental health symptoms and seeking treatment.
Therapists Give Advice
A therapist won't tell you what to do, and why would you want them to? You won't learn much by simply following someone's directions. That's not the path to knowledge and responsibility. Any improvement in your life will only be temporary, and you want to learn skills that can help you for the rest of your life. If therapists do their job right, patients will feel better equipped to make their own decisions.
Of course, your therapist may occasionally advise you, but that's not the point of therapy. Instead, a therapist teaches skills to deal with thoughts, feelings, and emotions to achieve stability in your life. Your provider might ask questions to get you to reassess your point of view and question negative behaviours. These activities help you gain knowledge about yourself with the assistance of someone who can be more objective about things than you can because they're removed from the situation.
Therapy Is Like Talking to a Friend
Talking to a trusted friend can undoubtedly be therapeutic. But your loved ones likely lack the education, training, and objectivity needed to provide you with the help that a therapist can give, not to mention the licensing required to provide therapy. Your friends may also want to avoid hurting your feelings by pointing out shortcomings in your thinking or errors in your behaviour. They may tell you what you want to hear because it's easier.
But you don't pay your therapist to be your friend. You pay them to tell you things that might be hard to hear but are necessary for your mental health. On top of that, therapy often involves more structure, both in the sessions themselves and the work you may need to do outside of them, than simply venting to friends. An excellent example is that you tend to see therapists on a schedule, such as once per week or month. You probably don't schedule time with your friends or have homework to do between those interactions.
All Therapy Is the Same
Therapy isn't always one-on-one. You and your partner or children might see a therapist together to work on your family issues. Group therapy is also an option for those people going through similar circumstances. Addiction therapy often occurs in group settings with both 12-step and non-12-step programs to help you get your life back on track. You can get therapy in person, online, or over the phone (telehealth).
Furthermore, providers have different specialities and focus. Many are trained in evidence-based cognitive-behavioural therapy, emphasizing tackling unhealthy thinking. Yet newer methods such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR ) and even therapies that incorporate art also exist. Therapists can narrow their client base by age, sexuality, profession, or type of concern (relationships, addictions, and anxiety, to name a few). You may also find a difference between counsellors, therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists.
Therapy doesn't have a singular timeline, either. You'll also find that some therapy is short-term, usually because you're working on a single issue (this is often differentiated as counselling). When it's resolved, you and your counsellor can go your separate ways. But other issues such as self-esteem can take longer to work through and may never be fully resolved. Fortunately, you can develop skills from therapy in just a few sessions, and the knowledge you gain can continue to serve you even after you stop seeing your therapist.
Casanova Malek, MD, graduated from Bangladesh Medical College and practised as a primary care physician for six years in Bangladesh. After moving to the USA, she worked at Emory University Hospital in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Hospital medicine research. During COVID-19, she worked as a crisis counsellor in Florida Corona Virus Emergency Response Team. Currently, she is working in the National Suicidal Prevention Center as well as a medical review for Sunshine Behavioral Health.
Further Resources
nami.org -
Mental Health By the Numbers
nimh.nih.gov - Psychotherapies
mayoclinic.org - Cognitive behavioural therapy
onemedical.com - How Long Should I Be in Therapy?
Important:
TherapyRoute does not provide medical advice. All content is for informational purposes and cannot replace consulting a healthcare professional. If you face an emergency, please contact a local emergency service. For immediate emotional support, consider contacting a local helpline.
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