How is Valued Living Therapy different from other practices?
At Valued Living Therapy, personal core values are explored, and used as a compass for perspective taking in challenging situations, as well as in motivating behavior change and decision making. Each patient is evaluated and treated with evidence based practices with an individualized approach.
What can therapy do for me?
The benefits of therapy are vast, and depend on your unique goals and challenges. Therapists are there to provide support, teach relevant skills, and help patients discover new coping strategies for things like anxiety, depression, stress, or even creative blocks. It isn’t necessary to be diagnosed with a mental health disorder to benefit from therapy.
If you are simply looking for personal growth in any aspect of your life, this can be established as your personal goal in therapy.
Essentially, a therapist offers a different way of looking at things – perhaps a perspective you haven’t yet considered, which makes it easier to point you in the right direction.
Progress is dependent on wilingess to apply the skills you learn in therapy in your everyday life. Practice is what can really turn things around. Still unsure about what therapy could do for you? Let’s take a look a few examples of some common benefits:
– Grasping a deeper understanding of who you are
– Identifying your goals and values
– Obtaining skills for bettering your life’s relationships
– Managing problem areas in your personal life, like anger, stress, depression, impulsivity or perfectionism
– Creating new patterns of behavior for yourself
– Changing your problem-solving perspective
– Boosting your self-esteem, resilience and confidence
If I feel as though I can handle my issues on my own, is therapy really necessary?
There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t experiences challenges of some kind throughout their life. Even if you feel your managing indepdently, it can be very beneficial to have additional support, validation and understanding when it comes to the obstacles you face in the present, as well as those in the past that may require processing. In all actuality, therapy is ideal for people who understand themselves enough to realize they actually could use some help, instead of denying it. Noticing that your life isn’t necessarily where you want it to be is a big realization and admittance, and taking the steps to change that for the better is something to be incredibly proud of. You’re taking the first step down an incredible path that can lead to long-lasting benefits for the rest of your life, even when challenges come up again.
In terms of making a decision for yourself or your loved one, of course therapy is a personal decision, but if you take a look at your life, and your desire is to make a change that starts from within, it’s likely that some form of psychotherapy could be a great benefit.
What can I expect from therapy?
Just like the reasons for therapy are different for everyone, most people can expect different experiences. The good news is that therapy is completely individually-focused, which is why everyone can get something different out of it. Generally, your life, your history, and any relevant insights will be important to the specific discussions, but in a very personal and individualized manner. Sometimes therapy can be focused on a specific need, in which case it’s a short term solution, while in other cases, many people go to therapy regularly, each week, to simply look for more personal growth.
Therapy is a partnership and a participatory experience. The more you involve yourself in the process, the better results you’re bound to see. It’s a practice in everyday living, in which you take what you learn from the session, and apply it to your life. Therefore, it’s important to be mentally prepared to make those changes in your life, and desire new perspectives on things.
How should one consider medication vs. psychotherapy?
While medication has been proven to help with many different disorders, it has also been proven that the combination of medication and therapy is the gold standard in treatment of many disorders. Medication often treats the symptoms of a problem, without getting to the root of solving it, which is where therapy comes in. If in the course of treatment, you decide you might benefit from medication, I will refer you out to an appropriate provider.
People are turning more and more to holistic and natural alternatives to modern medicine to treat mental, physical and spiritual issues. I emphasize the importance of self care and the relationship of body and mind. I can refer you to professional holistic providers in the area for further consultation.
Do the topics in each therapy session remain private?
There is practically nothing more important in therapy than confidentiality. As with any doctor patient agreement, your privacy is of the utmost importance. A good therapist understands the vulnerability and openness that must come from each patient in order to really get through, so therapy itself can take a lot of trust, and that needs to be developed over time. It is your choice if you’d like to have your therapist share anything significant with your other healthcare providers, but this can only be done with your written consent. Nothing you share in your sessions is to be told to anyone else, with the rare exceptions of suspected abuse of any kind (including child protection), or if the therapist has any reason to believe their patient may hurt themselves, or others. These situations are a matter of ethical procedures, and sometimes, even the law.