Seeking Help The Right Way: How To Be Honest To Your Therapist

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When you’re experiencing mental health problems, it is difficult to deal with the symptoms on your own, not to mention inadvisable. Seeking help through therapy is a huge step towards recovery. The good thing about therapy is that there is no single “template” to follow; many available treatments cater to various types of patients with different conditions and experiences. 

Crossing the bridge to seek help for your condition can be a daunting endeavor. Once people experiencing mental health problems overcome the fear and stigma enough to reach out, they immediately face another hurdle: talking to their therapist.

So, how do you prepare yourself after seeking help? How do you open up to your therapist about your condition? How do you become honest to your therapist? Sal Raichbach, PsyD often say, “Sadly, only a small percentage of people actively seek professional help for their mental health problems.” That is true.

Assess Yourself: Are You Ready For Therapy?

Before asking how to be honest to your therapist, you must be straightforward to yourself first. When people seek therapy, they do it with the idea that a therapist should be able to fix them up in no time. That is the wrong mindset to bring when coming to your therapy sessions.

Going to therapy means being ready to go to therapy. If you remain closed off or unprepared for the treatment your physician might come up with, recovery will remain unachievable too. You have to be sure you’re ready to reach out. Wanting to recover does not automatically translate to being prepared to face your therapist. Be clear about the difference with yourself; otherwise, going to therapy will be counterproductive.

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Start Small: Trusting Your Therapist

Trust between you and your therapist is a vital aspect of your treatment. You have to accept that recovery means discussing things that might be painful or even traumatic. But you do not need to discuss anything you don’t want to, not without your express permission.

You need to trust your therapist will not push you beyond what’s comfortable for you. If they do, remember that they have your best interests at heart, as well as years of education and expertise. “By building a list of people that you trust, with whom you can talk to in times of need, you allow yourself a strong sense of not being alone.” A reminder from David Klow, a licensed therapist.

You do not need to unload every thought and feeling to your therapist immediately. Tell them about your day. Or better yet, you can also ask them about their day. Begin with a small anecdote or memory. From there, your therapist might have follow-up questions to keep you going. Once you hit a particularly sore spot, tell your therapist that you feel uncomfortable with it. 

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Professional medical practitioners possess empathy, which helps them understand your situation. They might never know what it’s precisely like to be in your shoes, but they still have a pretty good idea. If you’re not ready to explore a specific issue, ask them to switch topics or offer one of your own. Your therapist might or might not push it, but remember that they know what they’re doing.

“therapy is a lot of work and this is important to keep in mind before starting. It’s imperative to understand this so that you can set realistic expectations for yourself.” Nathaniel Cilley, LMHC said. Vulnerability is part of the reason why a lot of people hesitate about being honest to therapists. They fear all sorts of things, from being judged to being hurt by other people. Seeking therapy is indeed a leap of faith sometimes, but rest assured that therapists are well-equipped and well-trained to help you recover and live your life to the fullest.

Financial Problems: The Best Way To Deal With It

Every married couple has different struggles and challenges that they need to overcome on a daily basis, one of which is the issue when it comes to financial matters. Money does not make the world go round, but it is necessary for the sustenance of a family. It is used not only for the food of the members of a household but even for the education of the kids or meeting the goals of the husband and wife.

 

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How Therapy Can Address Workplace Stress

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Many employees experience work stress, from the tons of responsibilities at hand to conflicts with their colleagues. Because of the said problems, a majority of these people often find themselves experiencing various mental health problems. Some even find themselves faced with different physical issues such as migraine, back pain, headaches, and skin complaints. “Stress can seem omnipresent. Between working, socializing and taking care of the home, it sometimes seems we don’t have a minute to ourselves, let alone enough time to really take care of our bodies and minds,” says Sonja Seglin, LCPC.

 

Take these recent statistics regarding workplace problems in the UK as examples:

  • The Mental Health Foundation revealed that 6 out of 10 of the working population in the area has trouble sleeping at night because of the stress they feel from work.
  • A recent survey by the mental health charity Mind stated that 32% of male employees blame work as the primary cause of their current mental health issues.
  • According to the Labor Force Survey, stress accounted for 37 to 40% of work-related health cases and approximately 45% of the working days of the workers were lost due to bad health.
  • The Health and Safety at Work survey by the Health and Safety Executive found that around 1.3 million employees suffer from a work-related illness.

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With this in mind, a lot of professionals recommend that those affected by workplace stress seek the help of therapists. They can help them cope with the adverse effects brought about by hectic environments such as the workplace. So, how does therapy address stress exactly?

Therapy Lets You Become More Self-Aware

Many workers know that they are feeling stressed out but are not sure where it is coming from. With the help of therapy, you can reflect on your daily life at work and pinpoint the primary sources of your mental health problems. Becoming self-aware is essential in tackling this concern since it helps you avoid or address your stressors. As explained by Robin D. Stone, LMHC, “The benefits of therapy are vast, including having an objective perspective on happenings in your life, a sounding board for you to talk through options before taking action, a place where you can deepen self-awareness, access resources to support your growth and personal development, and much more.”

Therapy Helps You Face Insecurity

You have to be aware that you will face criticism at work from time to time. That’s just how the professional world works. If you’re unwelcoming or sensitive about criticisms and feedback, you will experience insecurity. This mindset will only lead to more self-doubt and decreased self-worth.

In these cases, therapy can help you explore your insecurity. The process will allow you to explore the why’s and how’s of your self-doubt. As time passes by, you will sort out your thoughts and emotions and regain your sense of self.

Therapy Calms You

Some therapy sessions focus on relaxation training. According to professionals, the more you relax, the less tense your muscles are and the higher the functionality of your brain. These characteristics will help you see things from a more objective and broader perspective. “therapy is a lot of work and this is important to keep in mind before starting. It’s imperative to understand this so that you can set realistic expectations for yourself.” Nathaniel Cilley, LMHC said.

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Therapy Provides You With Motivation

Your enthusiasm about going to work declines as time passes by. Worse, it might reach the point where you’ll dread it. A visit with a therapist might help you regain your love for your job through a technique called gestalt therapy or transaction analysis. These strategies are employed to help you find the fine line between your real self and your adapted self.

You need to address the stress you feel at work since it leads to many negative results, such as lower productivity, decreased employee engagement, and poor health status. Seek the help of a therapist, and you’ll be on your way to a better experience at work.

Tips On Improving Your Relationship With Your Wife

“Couples’ expectations about what marriage should be like are completely off from the reality of what marriage is actually like”  That is according to Dr. Chantal Gagnon PhD LMHC. Keeping a marriage healthy and loving is a difficult task to maintain. Sometimes, no matter how a couple cares for each other, there will come a time wherein staying happy in a marriage becomes challenging. In fact, there are days when choosing to stay with a partner feels like a complete struggle. If you experience any of these, then it is a sign that you are having troubles in the marital union. Do not fret because there are many ways on how you could spice things up with your wife.

 

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Signs That Your Spouse May Be Reverting To His Alcoholic Ways

Can you breathe a sigh of relief now that your husband is no longer a devotee of alcohol?

Yes, yes, it is indeed marvelous to see your better half choosing water or juice over whiskey, gin, wine, or any beverage whenever you go out. You may also feel delighted by the fact that your man comes home without a stench of liquor wafting around him. Plus, you don’t need to sort the glass bottles he emptied and left on the floor as his drunken days are OVER.

However, the real question is: how confident are you that he’s not going to relapse?

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You may look for various sources of information online, but most studies reveal that beating alcoholism once does not make anyone – not even your husband –immune to the addiction. While the probability of ending sobriety decreases as years pass by, time cannot guarantee that he won’t revert to his alcoholic ways. The sudden news of unemployment or mid-life crisis may strike your spouse, for instance, and that may enable him to fall back into his old steps.

“The term “alcoholic” places the problem within the person, not within the nature of the drug.” –Sara Nash, PhD, LMHC

Instead of getting worried sick due to this disclosure, though, you need to practice constant vigilance to notice the following signs of relapse.

 

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  1. Your Beloved’s Brain Is All Over The Place

Alcohol addiction is not too different from being in love, in the sense that your husband may only think of his subject of affection. Whereas the latter makes him dream of a special someone, though, the former allows him to fantasize about his favorite liquor and perhaps chugging its bottle until the last drop. Because of that, you cannot expect his thoughts to be present even when he is sitting across from you.

Given the reality that spacing out is not the only relapse indication, your significant other may try to redirect your suspicions. The man may tell you that it’s the exhaustion doing that to him or that he has too many things to ponder about in the office. Nevertheless, once you confirm that he barely does anything at his workplace, then you ought to accept the possibility that his addiction may be on the rise again.

  1. It Does Not Take Much For Your Spouse To Snap In Anger

The deal with relapsing addicts is that they often contemplate whether they should return to their bad habits or not. These folks are highly aware of the consequences of what they’re itching to do – no doubt regarding that. At the same time, however, the need for their substance of liking must also be getting stronger. As explained by Hailey Shafir, LPCS, LCAS, CCS-I, “Addiction develops over time, as a person continues to use a substance and grows more dependent on it.”

With that idea in mind, you should take note of any extreme change in your husband’s mood. If his usually calm demeanor often dissolves when something does not go his way, that may be an indicator of impending relapse. If he yells at your kids for wanting to play with him, it can be another sign too.

  1. He Finds Ways To Avoid Treatment Or, Worse, You

Last but not the least, your husband will try to relinquish his connection to people or things that help him get better if he is on the verge of relapsing.

At first, he may only skip treatment, saying that he has extra work to do. Other times, your spouse may claim that he feels okay enough to stop the therapy. Considering the excuses do not affect you anymore, he may then go out to shake you off and hide the truth that his love for drinking is coming back.

 

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As the spouse of a former alcoholic, you have no choice but to take on the role of your husband’s minder. “There is a fine line which makes distinguishing alcohol abuse from alcoholism.”  Dr. Howard Samuels, PsyD explains. Make sure that he gets to manage his stressors well and that they do not cause anxiety or depression to grow in him. Know the typical characteristics of your better half; don’t be afraid to inquire if something seems amiss. Otherwise, you may have already noticed the signs of relapse in its early stages, and yet you ended up ignoring them and letting the addiction rule since you didn’t have any clue of what they may be.

Hopefully, the indications above will encourage you to learn more about alcohol relapse and save your better half from going through that. Good luck!

Helping Husband With Addiction Relapse Issues

Helping a loved one recover from addiction is not an easy task, especially if you have no idea on how to do it. The first thing that you have to understand is that relapse can take place after your husband has decided to quit from his bad habits. This will happen regardless of the addiction that he has – whether it involves cigarettes, narcotics or alcohol. Second, believe in yourself that you have what it takes to help the other spouse. Never doubt your capacity to motivate him in recovering from the mental condition.

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