What happens in psychotherapy?

A therapist can serve as a listening ear, and a guide in teaching a consumer better coping skills and strategies to relieve stress. With the therapist’s guidance, a consumer will learn to explore his/her feelings, beliefs and behaviors – and how they influence his/her life. A consumer may work through difficult memories, might identify aspects of his/her life that he/she wishes to change, or understand better. A consumer can set personal goals, and work toward achieving them.

A consumer together with his /her therapist will set a schedule that works for both of them. A consumer might have a month of weekly sessions, or several years of weekly sessions. The schedule is set based on his/her unique needs and goals for therapy.

Through therapy, consumers gather tools to manage symptoms, alleviate stress, and face challenges.

Psychotherapy prevents relapses

Consumers struggling with moderate depression and anxiety have very positive results from psychotherapy. Research shows they are less likely to have relapses (setbacks) long after their treatment ends. In fact, the combination of psychotherapy and medication has helped many consumers greatly – better than those who only took medication.

Take time to interview a few psychotherapists, to see which feels right. Do you feel comfortable talking with this person? Could you discuss personal details with them? Do they listen carefully, and respond in a helpful manner?

Don’t be shy about calling to set an appointment for a quick phone interview. It’s in your best interest to find the right therapist – one whose style and personality match yours. Give psychotherapy a try if life has thrown too many curve balls your way. We all need help at those critical times.

Family Counseling/ Therapy

Counseling can be very effective when the entire family is involved. At FIRST HEALTH SERVICES LLC, licensed family therapists provide emotional support, education and guidance to strengthen the family unit.

If a family member is recovering from a mental illness, family counseling is very helpful. The therapist can help family members coping with alcohol or drug concerns. With a therapist’s help, family members can resolve conflicts and learn new strategies for handling problems to develop more positive relationships.

For example: Family therapy helps family members cope if a relative has been diagnosed with a mental health problem like schizophrenia or depression.

In the case of addiction, the family can attend family therapy while the person with an addiction participates in a residential treatment program.

Several family members typically come together for therapy sessions. However, a family member may also see a family therapist individually.

The therapy is often short term — less than six months. However, the number of sessions you’ll need depends on your family’s situation.

How family therapy helps

In therapy sessions, the family can work through frustrations and disagreements. If communication between family members has broken down, a family therapist can help bridge that gap.

In family therapy, a consumer can:

Examine his family’s ability to solve problems and express thoughts and emotions

Explore family roles, rules and behaviors to identify issues that contribute to conflict — and ways to work through these issues

Identify his family’s strengths, such as caring for one another, and weaknesses, such as difficulty confiding in one another

In the end, the consumer in recovery will be better equipped to cope with his challenges, and the entire family may understand the situation better – to provide better support.

Group Therapy

While individual therapy is a one-on-one process, group therapy involves one or more psychologists who lead a group of consumers. Most groups meet weekly. The participants might also attend individual therapy sessions.

Group therapy sessions are facilitated by a licensed counselor. The members of your group (15 or so) act as a support network and a sounding board. We get consumers with all types of backgrounds, and very different personalities. They each look at life differently.

Hearing their ideas can help you figure out your own situation. When you see how they tackle problems and make positive changes, you can better face your own problems. In group sessions, everyone learns from the others.

Talking with a group of strangers may seem intimidating at first. But you might be surprised at how much it can help. Psychologists always say that the group members find it a really rewarding experience.

Right now, you may feel like you’re the only one struggling. You may feel pretty alone. When you join a group, you’ll immediately realize everyone has problems. You’ll be better able to put your own problems in perspective. You’ll understand that you’re not alone – and that will help you feel comfortable talking. In fact, you might feel relieved to finally open up about your problems.

Keep in mind, the give-and-take of advice from the group member’s benefits from the psychologist’s feedback. Therefore, the advice you get will be good advice – to help you better handle your life’s challenges.

Play Therapy

Play therapy is a type of psychotherapy to help children with behavioral or emotional difficulties.

While playing, children communicate their thoughts and feelings naturally. As the child plays, the therapist notes certain themes and patterns that are important to the child. Over time, the therapist helps the child understand certain meanings in the play. This is important because the play reflects issues that are important to the child and relate to their difficulties.

Through play therapy, the therapist will help the child see the need to make changes. The child’s communication with parents can improve. Trust, impulse control, coping with frustrations and anger, low self-esteem, and ability to relate to others – all can improve through play therapy. Tantrums, nightmares, aggressive behavior, worries and fears can also improve with play therapy.

Play therapy is especially helpful for children who have been abused or neglected, or had another type of traumatic experience.

What happens during play therapy?

In play therapy, the psychologist meets with the parents first to collect a significant amount of background about the family and the child. Then, the child and therapist meet alone most of the time. Sessions with parents are arranged separately, as needed.

Children typically will deny having a problem, or may not realize they have a problem. During the first sessions, the therapist explains to the child why they were brought in for treatment. The child learns that they can say anything they want in the sessions.

During the sessions, the therapist will see the child “acting out” various themes that are important to the child. From this, the therapist guides the child until the problem has been resolved for a stable period of time.

At times, the therapist will take a child into a playroom with carefully selected toys. The toys help children express their feelings and problems. The therapist allows the child to select the toys and the ways that they want to play with them. The therapist pays very close attention to the child’s actions and feelings, and might get involved in imaginary play with the child.

In play therapy, the therapist might decide on a specific type of activity because the child will learn a new skill – or will better understand something.

At times, the entire may be involved in the play therapy.

The benefits of play therapy

Play therapy can be very helpful for traumatized children. Even teens and adults can benefit from treatments that involve play and art. When words fail us after an intensely frightening event, another means of expressing ourselves become necessary – to help the healing process.

When sessions need to end, the therapist will help the child work through the “closure” to avoid feelings of rejection. Play therapy can be critically important for children to work through difficult emotions – and move on to develop into an emotionally healthy adult.