An Unbiased View Of Therapist Counselors

There's a normal school of thought that says we need a therapist, counselor or coach to help us work through difficult situations, painful experiences, and negative emotions. Without another living person acting as a sounding board, confidante or adviser, this school of thought suggests, Full Post we will never be able to get out of the minefield that our negative thoughts, feelings and memories often are.

Is this true? Apparently not. We need to expand our considering what we really need when we are processing painful experiences and negative emotions. The presence of a therapist or coach may not be necessary.

Folks who process negative life experiences through writing or discussing them (not necessarily with a therapist or coach) describe long-term improved life satisfaction, mental health and physical health. The actions of writing and talking offer a conduit which leads to the release of painful experiences and feelings.

Here is what studies at the University of California and Duke University Medical Center as well as the Clinical Psychology Review have to say about what we really need once we are usually working through painful experiences and negative emotions:

Writing and talking require organisation and structure, which allow people to let go and move past their problems

For folks experiencing minor psychological complaints, writing therapy and self-talk therapy (for example talking into a tape recorder) produces positive changes comparable to those produced by short-term psychotherapy.

The positive effects of writing and self-talk therapy include decreased visits to doctors, decreased job absenteeism; and increased coping strategies and improved physical conditions including immune function

It is not simply the writing and speaking about life events that appears to make the real difference - it is the self-reflection on the feelings as well as the insights that appears to make the shift: what are my feelings affiliated with this event and what do I now understand or realise about it? Writing and talking about those elements provides a structure and organisation to troubling events that may lead to a self-identified solution. - Clinical Psychology Review

Writing is tremendously cost effective, allows people to confront traumas and problems at their own rate, and encourages them to devise their very own meaning and approaches to their problems. Lots of individuals, perhaps most, are able to guide their own therapy