"I don't need therapy."

You're right, 100%.  And neither do I.  No one needs therapy.  However, thousands upon thousands of people find that engaging in a therapeutic process with a professional counselor, psychologist or social worker considerably improves the quality of their lives.  Some people have symptoms that are so disruptive that the quality of their lives, without professional help, suffers.  So, the question I ask is, do you want your life to change?  Do you want to feel better, more aware, more alive?  Do you want to make more informed choices, based on your own personal values?  If you want these things, then maybe you want to start psychotherapy.

In a recent article in the APA's Monitor on Psychology magazine, Dr. Katherine Nordal mourns the passing of psychotherapy and states that "talk therapy" has been replaced by psychotropic medication and "quick fix" interventions.  I would argue that the pressures placed on mental health agencies and professionals by insurance companies have created a bias toward faster, more results-oriented modalities like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and emphasized psychiatric treatments, and I don't see these changes as necessarily negative.  I believe that clients do control their own healing or growth processes, and if the client isn't moving as quickly as the client wants to, YES, that is something to address...in therapy...while talking with a professional.  I have seen the benefits of psychiatric treatments in conjunction with "talk therapy," and sometimes adjusting chemical imbalances means the difference between a pale, struggling indifference and an attitude of motivation and possibility.  Medication does not solve anyone's problems, but it can be a valuable tool to help stabilize someone's physical symptoms so that they have the freedom to address underlying concerns.  I also believe in the efficacy of brief interventions as a means to identify clients who may need further assistance.  Interventions are not an end, they are a means to an end, and often, that end is the beginning of a treatment process.

So, as we celebrate the beginning of 2011 and look with fresh eyes on a year of possibility, I am excited to continue with my own psychotherapy and with my clients along their journeys.  Therapy is great in part because I don't need it (and neither do you).  I want the benefits of insight and reflection it has helped me gain.

For Dr. Nordal's article, click here:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/11/perspectives.aspx