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5 Things a Psychotherapist wants you to know about Mental Health

October 18, 2017 Jessica Leigh
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1.     Everyone has a little bit of something

Everyone, and I mean everyone, has a little bit of something. May this be a feeling of failure, a fear, or an insecurity, we all (myself included) have a little bit of something. There is no ‘perfect’ mental health, we are all just individuals trying to live a happy life. The time to seek help is when this ‘little bit of something’, becomes a larger part of your life. By coming into therapy, you're merely addressing, challenging and changing negative patterns of behavior, which in turn, teaches you to become your own therapist.

2.     Coming into therapy does not mean you're ‘crazy’

So let’s take a minute to clear up the taboo around seeking help for mental health. Mental health issues can either be biological, such as a chemical imbalance. This can often lead to schizophrenia or bipolar, and these can be managed through medication and counseling with a psychiatrist or psychologist. Mental health problems deriving from a chemical balance are 1 in 100 people. There are, however, 1 in 6 of the population enduring anxiety or depression. That means that more likely than not there is a high probability of someone in your workplace or social group with anxiety or depression. Anxiety and depression are merely the results of self-critical and black and white thinking patterns, with a tendency to avoid difficult situations. That is it. Just because you endure a panic attack during a work meeting, or feel depressed to the point where you want to withdraw from all around you, does not make you ‘crazy’, it just means that you need to highlight and change harmful thinking and behavioral attributes.

3.     Do not wait for your mental health to ‘fix’ itself

If you wouldn’t look at a broken arm and think, “I know it’s bad but I’ll just leave it a few months and see if it gets better on its own,” then please don’t do this with your mental health. Much like a broken arm, broken heads heal better when they’re treated quickly.

 4.     We are not judging you

Most clients have the preconception that therapists will not be sympathetic as to what you're going through, or have a ‘get over it attitude’. The reason I studied for 8 years to become a psychotherapist, is because I want to help you. I want you to reach your view of happiness. I will be your biggest advocate and supporter of your mental health journey. So when you come in and tell me a ‘crazy thought’, I understand, I am not judging you, I understand what you're going through.

5.     Perfection is a myth

There is no such thing as perfection, it is a myth. The reason for this is perfection is completely subjective to the eye of the beholder. You will never reach perfection because to someone else, perfection is something else. Don’t spend your life chasing the white rabbit. Imperfection allows for growth, discovery, creativity and the possibility of a better tomorrow. Perfectionism mostly just allows for the growth of stomach ulcers.

 

 

 

 

 

Tags cbt belfast, cbt anxiety belfast, anxiety belfast, depression belfast, depression counselling belfast, cbt northern ireland
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Swipe left 🙋🏼‍♀️ This can be a common behaviour associated with anxiety and low self esteem. We can often tell people ‘everything’ in an attempt to control what they’re thinking. ‘Mind reading’ (trying to guess what people are thinking) is a cognitive distortion, which results in us spending a lot of time and effort trying to ‘convince’ people otherwise. When more often than not, they were thinking about something completely different. This behaviour can be costly because it is not only draining, but maintains inner beliefs of perceived weakness. Psycho education around long term stress. Perfectionism and general anxiety places your body into fight or flight mode over a long period of time leading to poor cognitive function (decision making etc) and health problems. The key to addressing these problems is to break down what is behaviourally and cognitively maintaining your anxiety and slowly adapting them to the healthy, rather than the harmful. Happy Monday everyone! We’re back in the office today from 10am. Excited for a new week of new clients! Any questions or queries, please feel free to ask! Have a lovely Monday! Self care Sunday reminder! 🙋🏼‍♀️ This is something I used to be so guilty of in my personal life. If I didn’t know everything about a topic, so I criticised myself for being stupid. I have a natural perfectionistic mindset which can be helpful, but extremely harmful if it isn’t attended to. Perfectionistic thinking brings in all or nothing thinking (or black and white thinking), which sounds like ‘I don’t know everything so I must be completely stupid’. Resulting in withdrawn behaviour and anxiety. When I began to challenge this and look for evidence of intelligence outside of this ONE example, I realised how strong emotion based thinking is. Next time you criticise yourself for not having all the answers, pull in the full picture and context, and remember that by merely admitting you don’t have all the answers is not a repsresentation of your intelligence as a whole #youresmarterthanyouthink I do not have enough time in the day to highlight how wrong this message is. You can not outrun your emotions and it certainly isn’t healthy to burn yourself out in the process. Choose time to address you emotions, either independently or with a counsellor. Take care of your mental health and it will take care of you #slowandsteady JLCBT client review #introvertproblems 🙋🏼‍♀️ #counsellinghumour There are a number of cognitive distortions that can effect our thinking. One of which is called ‘catastrophising’. This distortion consistently pulls your mind to the worst case, unrealistic scenarios which fuel anxiety. CBT teaches you how to check, challenge and change your negative thinking. Allowing you to be more in control of your mood as a result. If someone is going through a period of anxiety or depression, remember that it is not your responsibility as a loved one to ‘fix’ their problems, but you can ‘facilitate’ help through listening and empathy. More often than not the reason why we feel overwhelmed with individuals going through mental health problems is because we place an expectation on ourselves to ‘fix’ them. Take time today to merely ask how someone is. #youremorehelpthanyouthink Helpful things to ask yourself when you’re anxious/ depressed to glean perspective #cbttraining #mentalhealth You’re stronger than you think ❤️ Does this look familiar? If so you could be experiencing anxiety. For more information, visit our website today. Wishing all our clients and followers a lovely weekend! See you Monday! New blog from JLCBT! Link in bio and video blog on our highlights #selfcare New blog from JLCBT. Link in bio Sitting down to reply to all your questions and queries! #fueledbycoffee #admin #clientcommunication

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