Psychotherapy (or talk therapy) is a term used to refer to communication between you and the therapist so that you can: 

• Gain emotional relief from feelings of stress, anxiety, depression, and/or fear that you may be experiencing.  

• Seek healthy strategies to cope with family conflict, grief, disappointment, and job dissatisfaction. 
• Build self-awareness and modify your thought and behavior patterns that have been an impediment to your growth and personal well-being. 

Some of the reasons why people usually take up therapy are listed below.  If any of these listed reasons resonate with you or if you simply want to improve the quality of your relationships (with yourself and/or others), you can benefit from therapy.  

Are you: 

• Grappling with a diagnosis 
• Struggling to make sense of a life experience or interpersonal relationship 
• Feeling the need for a confidential space to talk 

• Trying to cope with exhaustion 
• Experiencing anxious, intrusive or ruminative/self-harm/suicidal thoughts 
• Feeling hopeless 
• Socially withdrawn 
• Finding yourself in similar problems time and again.
• Feeling the need to get to know yourself better/ Feeling the need to understand yourself better/ Not able to make sense of your behavior/ Experiencing discomfort in your mind 

These are just some of the many reasons why people decide to take up therapy. If you need help to understand your needs or want to know if therapy is for you, reach out to us for a short client-therapist consultation fit consultation.

Your role is solely to show up for yourself – be a brave and active participant. ‘Active’ because you will be doing at least 50% of the work required to make progress towards your well-being goals – both inside and outside of therapy sessions. ‘Brave’ because this process of self-reflection and vulnerability will bring forward parts of you that may be challenging to witness. 

You can talk about feelings or thoughts that have been bothering you, especially if it’s something that you cannot bring up with others, difficulties or losses that you have experienced, are currently experiencing or are anticipating in the future. You can speak about your relationships with your family, friends, at work, with a significant other or anyone else. You can bring up past experiences or childhood experiences that you haven’t quite been able to make sense of or digest. If there’s anything that keeps you up at night or any feelings that you can’t put into words, you can discuss that as well. There’s nothing too silly or too deep to talk about in therapy, all the parts of you, pretty-or-not, are welcome. 

It is perfectly normal to feel stumped! Communicating this to your therapist will help them suggest ways of navigating this feeling during therapy. Sometimes, a therapist will also help you figure out why you might be at a loss for words. Nevertheless, it is okay if you feel a block in putting things in speech.

The number of sessions you need is based on the goals that you and your therapist set together at the start of the process. The type of problems and their severity may affect the duration of therapy. Some people need just a few sessions while others may need more support. It is important to remember that therapy is NOT a lifelong process. Your therapist’s goal is to aid you in improving your communication, problem-solving, and adaptability skills so that you are better equipped to handle similar adversity in the future. However, as can be the case with physical health, your mental health may also require consistent support depending on any trauma you may experience after the termination of therapy, a life transition that may become problematic or simply for upkeep. In these situations, it is alright to get back in touch with your therapist to discuss possible re-initiation of therapy. 

It is not always necessary to reflect on your feelings and thoughts. Although, reflection helps you catch up with yourself and where you are at the moment as opposed to where you think you should be. We often get so carried away by the expectations that we have for ourselves and that others have set for us, that when we take these expectations out of the equation, we don’t really know who we are.  By asking yourself, “Who am I? What do I consist of? What can I do?”, you can understand yourself better. Even though taking a keen look at your feelings, thoughts, and all, can make you feel uncomfortable, acknowledging your human-ness is indeed the process of reflection. Kindly remember, a huge part of this reflection is also done in a therapy space under the guidance of your therapist.