What to expect in your first therapy session
20th July 2018
Walking & Talking – Helping Social Isolation and Loneliness
30th July 2018
I would hope in today’s world we’ve moved passed the previous stigma of accessing psychological help, unless you were ‘crazy’. If you want to lose weight you may seek out a personal trainer, or if you have a toothache you would go to the dentist, so why wouldn’t you attend to something that’s bothering you psychologically?
- Overwhelm central.
We can cope with the challenges that life throw at us, until we can’t. Sometimes we adopt unhealthy strategies to be able to cope, such as drinking too much. Let’s be honest here, life is not always easy and nobody has all of the answers, all of the time.
You me be feeling stressed and highly strung every day, and this well feel unrelenting over time, and it’s just not a nice way of living for anyone. The great news is that therapy isn’t just for depression, it’s also great for stress and anxiety, and a CBT Therapist can help you figure out the reasons behind any unexplained overwhelm as well as help you make life choices that work better for you.
- The hamster wheel of choices.
You have the same conversation with yourself every single day. ‘I won’t do that again’. Sound familiar? Even though we intellectually know that our behaviour is damaging us, we can’t get off the hamster wheel.
This might look like risky behaviour, such as over drinking, substance misuse, or even indulging in destructive relationships. The damage these behaviours do to how you feel about yourself and being unable to stop making these decisions, can have a devastating effect on your well-being and health.
It may all feel a bit hopeless, but these damaging behaviours are often connected to deep-seated beliefs we have about ourselves that are secretly running the show. Your CBT therapist will work with you recognise what these are and work towards healthy non-limiting beliefs that will help you break free of life limiting decisions.
- Ground Hog Day.
Eat, sleep, work, repeat. Your ground hog day, might not feel that bad, but is your life being lived the way you truly want it to be lived? We only get one shot at this thing called life, and it’s short. Maybe you are staying in a miserable relationship, maybe you keep in the job that you despise or maybe you just can’t say No to people, no matter what.
CBT Therapy helps you to get underneath the daily grind, and figure out the reasons why you are making choices that don’t give you happiness and joy. Finding out and working towards what you really want is a beautiful thing to gift yourself!
- People just don’t get you.
Do you feel misunderstood much of the time. CBT Therapy can help you realise what is behind your inability to connect with others. Your view maybe that it’s everyone else who has the problem, but only you can take the power and make changes. The only things in life we can control are ourselves. Assertive communication can be the making of someone who has spent their life in a passive or aggressive communication role.
- Blind Rage
Is your emotionally responses to situations appropriate to the situation? Traffic light changing to red, send your blood to boil? Being cut up on the motorway results in you screaming in your car, or even bursting into tears when you have a challenge at work.
When an emotional response is not a match to what has triggered it, it’s often because suppressed emotions are fighting to come to the surface and be dealt with. We all like to package these emotions and box them up and put them away, but if they haven’t been examined, understood or healed, they will keep rising to the surface. Your CBT Therapist creates a safe place to explore all of this, and start to unpack these feelings and issues, that you may have kept to yourself for a really long time.
- Identity – Who even am I?
One of the biggest ways to be happy, is to discover who we really are and what we really want from life. The world dictates how we should look, family may have pressures as to who you should be, and you may have unrelenting standards for yourself, that don’t match up to your reality.
Working out how to be your authentic self is liberating and challenging. One that your CBT Therapist will help you shape.
- A non-judgmental ear.
The reality is for some that for one reason or another they cannot discuss their problems or issues with friends, partners or family. It could be that your dealing with dark thoughts, and are terrified to verbalise these, or your struggling with your sexuality. The great thing about CBT Therapy, is that you are NEVER judged, and we are trained to listen.
- You secretly suspect your self-esteem isn’t what it could be.
CBT Therapy is a great way to identify were your self-worth and self-esteem are and working to dramatically improve these, will have a greater impact on the quality of your life.
- Moods are up and down
You may identify that you have low moods, and these low moods come and go, but when they hit they can really impact on your life. It can be useful to go to CBT Therapy if you notice the impact your moods are having on your life.
- You are ready to get UNSTUCK.
CBT Therapy, despite the things you might have heard, is not about just thinking positively, or any hippy dippy nonsense. This process will unveil the issues, heal your pain, unpack your difficulties and get you on track to a better more fulfilled life.
I you are ready for that, then you are ready for therapy.
