How Important Is Therapy?

A lot of people think of therapy as something that’s elective. It works much better if you make the decision to do the work, of course, but attending to your mental health is crucial. Let us explain why.

What Happens When You Ignore Your Mental Health?

Without a basic understanding and attention to your emotions, you are at risk of significant physical, relationship, and emotional distress. You see, emotions are meant to be felt, understood, and allowed to pass. But many emotions don’t feel good. We might have been taught that it’s ugly to be mad or weak to be sad. 

The reality is that feeling emotions is not ugly or weak. What we do with those emotions can be, though. And if we don’t act out the emotions, they will build up like a toxin in our bodies. This is how migraines, digestion problems, back pain, and other medical issues often begin.

How Does A History Of Trauma In Your Past Affect Your Present?

In addition, when you’ve been through difficult experiences, especially as a kid, the memories just pile up over time unless you can sort through and process them fully. Our memory network is triggered off by way more than actively thinking about a memory. For example, if you felt helpless when your parents divorced as a child. This is a normal feeling in a pretty common event that often does not get fully processed when we are children or even as young adults. So, later in life, when you go through something that triggers a feeling of helplessness, it unconsciously triggers the memory of the divorce also. If you’re not aware of this, you might be likely to feel doubly helpless and/or act out in a much less mature way than you might like. It’s as if your child self that was overwhelmed during the divorce is now in charge again.

This is why therapy is so important. It can help you sort through what is past and what is present pain so you can begin to make sense of it all and learn how to cope. 

How Does Therapy Help?

Dedicating the time and energy to clearing out the mental clutter helps free your mind and body. It teaches you the skills you need to let down your defenses and feel the emotions in a way that feels manageable. Once you’re free to actually move through the emotions, therapy can also be helpful in processing what happened in a way that leaves you feeling stronger and at peace with the past.

Ultimately, this allows you to live your life more authentically and purposefully. So, you can do you. 

If you’re ready to get started, we have immediate openings for individual and group. And don’t worry, if coming in person is difficult right now, we have online options that are proven to be as effective as in person. We can answer all your questions and help you work out any technological kinks.