Written by Rian Gordon
Therapy is an emotionally-charged subject for a lot of people. As someone who frequently sees a therapist, I can tell you that bringing up the subject always makes me a little nervous! I never know if people are going to be thrilled with my journey towards being healthier and happier, or if they will think I’m a crazy person worth avoiding in the future. I will say that recently, reactions have definitely been more on the positive side, and I’d love for that trend to continue. So today, I want to talk about why I believe (and research suggests) that just about anybody could benefit from a little professional help.
#1 – Life is Hard
You don’t need me to spell this one out for you. Life is chock-full of difficult challenges. From financial problems, to illness, to relationship struggles, to even just the daily grind, the difficulties that we are constantly facing can really weigh on us. If you don’t believe me, check out the numbers. Just from 2005 to 2015, cases of clinical depression have risen rapidly, particularly among young people, increasing from 8.7 to 12.7 percent among those ages 12-17 (Weinberger et al., 2017). And those numbers just keep going up. Therapy creates a safe space for us to talk about the things that are getting us down. It can be a much-needed outlet to discuss and work through the challenges that come with being a human being.
#2 – Talking Works
Research has shown that talking through our problems can actually change the way our brain functions. When you struggle with something like depression, anxiety, or even perfectionism, your brain can get stuck in a spiral of negative thought patterns that make it very difficult to see anything in a positive, or even realistic, light. Different therapy techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are designed to help you re-wire your brain for more positive thought patterns (Wessing et al., 2013). Furthermore, rather than simply treating symptoms, therapy actually helps you work towards addressing the causes of problems. Verbalizing our experiences and thoughts can help us to healthily process negative experiences from our past, and increase our emotional intelligence, which can help us better understand how to handle future challenges in a healthier way. On top of that, what is extra nice about having a therapist is that they can be a completely unbiased third party that can help you see your problems from a different perspective. If you still aren’t convinced, research has actually found other benefits to talk therapy such as less back pain, better heart health, and more restful sleep (who doesn’t want to sleep better?!).
#3 – We ALL Need Help
No matter what kind of challenges you experience, we all have a desire to know that we are not alone in our struggles. Part of the stigma surrounding therapy and mental illness is due to the incorrect assumption that we are the only one who is struggling. The social media epidemic has definitely contributed to this problem. By talking more openly about the difficulties that we face, and acknowledging that we could all use some help, we can give others permission to be vulnerable, take a chance, and seek the help that they need.
Just a Note
While I do believe that therapy is for everyone, I don’t believe that every THERAPIST is for everyone. In the world of talk therapy, it is essential to find someone that you feel safe with and connect with. Not only do different therapists practice different methods, they are also different people with different personalities! Because of that, you may find that you don’t click with the first therapist you see. Please don’t give up there. Try try again until you find someone that works for you.
It’s also important to remember that therapy isn’t the only resource for helping with mental health issues. Do not neglect other resources such as family, friends, exercise, sleep, and even medication. When dealing with life’s challenges, the bigger your support system, the better!
Homework: Visit makeitok.org, and take the pledge to help erase the stigma surrounding mental illness!
References
Hall, J., Kellett, S., Berrios, R., Bains, M. K., & Scott, S. (2016). Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults: Systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(11), 1063–1073. https://doi-org.erl.lib.byu.edu/10.1016/j.jagp.2016.06.006
Weinberger, A., Gbedemah, M., Martinez, A., Nash, D., Galea, S., & Goodwin, R. (2018). Trends in depression prevalence in the USA from 2005 to 2015: Widening disparities in vulnerable groups. Psychological Medicine, 48(8), 1308-1315. https://doi-10.1017/S0033291717002781
Wessing, I., Rehbein, M. A., Postert, C., Fürniss, T., & Junghöfer, M. (2013). The neural basis of cognitive change: Reappraisal of emotional faces modulates neural source activity in a frontoparietal attention network. NeuroImage, 81, 15–25. https://doi-org.erl.lib.byu.edu/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.04.117
Yoshino, A., Okamoto, Y., Okada, G., Takamura, M., Ichikawa, N., Shibasaki, C., Yokoyama, S., Doi, M., Jinnin, R., Yamashita, H., Horikoshi, M., & Yamawaki, S. (2018). Changes in resting-state brain networks after cognitive–behavioral therapy for chronic pain. Psychological Medicine, 48(7), 1148–1156. https://doi-org.erl.lib.byu.edu/10.1017/S0033291717002598
Rian Nicole Gordon is from Orem, Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Family Life and Human Development. She has been married to her best friend Mark for five years, and they have two beautiful children, one boy and one girl. Apart from her full-time job as a stay-at-home mom, she works for The Dibble Institute, which specializes in relationship education for youth.
