Showing posts with label counseling sessions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label counseling sessions. Show all posts
Effectiveness of Therapy
Advice by: Hank Butch
Place: Shanghai, China
Place: Shanghai, China
How to make therapy effectively count for you?
Therapy sessions lasting for an hour couple of times a week won’t start to suddenly do wonders for you. It is you who need to put your learning from those sessions into practice in your day to day life.
a. Regularity in meals, daily exercise and a good 7 hours of sleep will start to put you in the right state of mind to treat your emotional state. This is the first step. Skipping this step will only bring you more irritability and dampen your confidence than therapy is not working.
b. As mentioned before, your therapist will carve out a way for you after consulting you. But he plays only a part in your recovery. What you contribute actively through your actions is more important.
c. Your counseling sessions aren’t just a weekly chore that you have to complete. Don’t just go there because you’ve been told to do so or just because you’ve paid for it. Endure through the resistance if you have any, but be sure to open yourself up to your therapist. At no cost should you skip your meetings with your therapist. Be committed to following the activities your therapist asks you to perform during the days between two sessions
d. Remember that your therapist can help you best only if you are completely honest and truthful about your problems with him. Drop all sort of inhibitions. Being rather open will do you more good than being closed.
Is therapy making any progress for you?
When you ask yourself this question, remember that your expectations shouldn’t seek instant results. What you definitely can answer instantly in your first couple of sessions is whether your therapist is suitable for you or he is not.
Also remember, the recovery is associated with emotional lows, moments of irritation, spurts of anger and other such negativity. What you need to answer for yourself after about a month is whether you are seeing a positive change in your overall life.
Here are some questions you can answer to test how far you have evolved:
a. Has my life seen a change in the positive direction?
b. Am I being able to cope up better at work than before?
c. Are my relationships in my family tending to improve?
d. Socially, am I being able to react openly and exhibit myself confidently?
e. Are my goals set by my therapist with me being met one by one?
f. Am I more aware of myself and do I have clarity over my actions?
If you can answer even 3 of these questions in the positive, well, you are tending towards improvement. But don’t get discouraged if you aren’t improving. You aren’t in a competition! Take your issues and answers to these questions to your therapist and discuss. Remember to have a wider outlook towards your entire life and surroundings – if there’s some positive vibe you feel, pat yourself and keep going!
When should you quit therapy?
As your situation improves with time, your bond with your therapist will naturally grow stronger. It would be hard for you to give up your sessions with your therapist after such a fruitful association. So as long as there are no financial hurdles or other commitments preventing you from going for your sessions, it may seem tough for you to call it quits.
The right time for you to get away from therapy is when you personally feel that you have achieved the goals you had set for yourself. It is quite normal for you to see your therapist for a couple of follow up sessions after you have stopped your regular counseling sessions. However, at no cost should you engage yourself into a situation where you make visits to your therapist an indefinite habit. Stay firm on that and be aware of your actions!
Financials about therapy
Therapy is among the relatively expensive treatments, since it calls for some serious amount of time and attention from a specialist.
Few people know, but insurance companies have provisions to cover some limited costs for therapy and counseling. If you are really having a crunch for funding your therapy, you can look out for social centers, young therapists or interns at an agency to keep your costs low.
Be sure to ask if you can pay per sitting and also about possible negotiations if you engage for a longer period of time.
What is Counseling Like?
Advice by: Hank Butch
Place: Shanghai, China
Place: Shanghai, China
What are therapy and counseling sessions like?
You may have to attend your sessions either at hospitals your therapist’s clinic. Sometimes, therapists do pay you a home visit, but that generally is a more expensive proposition. You can expect these sessions to last for about an hour and they can range from as often as bi-weekly basis to about bi-monthly basis depending upon the treatment and your therapist’s approach.
Your first couple of sessions with your therapist most likely would be that where he tries to educate himself about your problems and your history. You too on the other hand should evaluate your session with him. You should try to clarify to him exactly what you are willing to achieve through therapy, so that you can both work together towards that goal as a team.
During the first couple of sessions, you must measure your level of comfort and trust with your therapist. So basically you have to know whether:
-- you are being able to undilutedly share your thoughts and feelings with him
-- you are comfortable sharing personal and private information with him
a. When you start off with your first session, there are chances that you might not feel the right click with your therapists. You must absolutely not settle for it if you aren’t feeling the required level of comfort with your therapist. Move on immediately and look out for another therapist
b. Expect a significant amount of personal contribution to healing yourself through therapy. This isn’t like any other illness where the doctor would work on your body or give you pills to alleviate pain. Your therapist will guide you through the relief, but you will need to actively play a good enough part to pull yourself out.
c. Attending counseling sessions with your therapists doesn’t mean that the time you spend there would be pain relieving always. Do expect negative feelings and thoughts from the past to come up that will hurt you. However, it is a process of healing. You must communicate to your therapist what you are feeling and what is troubling you. Not only will he guide you through his routine methods, but he communicating with him will educate him better about your state of affairs.
d. There are chances that the hospital or your therapist’s clinic might not give you the required level of comfort to open up completely and be yourself. If such a problem persists, do raise it with your therapist.
How long does therapy last?
This is a very relative question to be addressed. Some people who either have a grave problem can go on for close to about 3-4 months, while others with relatively less complex issues may even wrap up within a month. The other factor that can limit your length of therapy is the cost associated with it and how long you can endure that cost. You, however, must set a maximum time period for yourself, which is also reasonable. Setting such a goal helps you from falling into the same loop over and over again. It is not to pressurize yourself and can be modified as your treatment progresses.
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