Can I Be Friends with My Therapist? The Importance of Healthy Therapeutic Boundaries
Therapy is a unique relationship. You share everything about yourself with your therapist, but they don’t share much, if anything, about themselves. Many therapists are open to answering certain questions about themselves or may share a little bit about themselves if it’s appropriate, but the relationship is not a friendship. Some therapists will not share any information about themselves with their clients, but this depends on the client, the therapist, and the relationship. A therapist’s goal is never to move away from the client's best interest, and talking about themselves can do that very quickly.
Finding Support in Challenging Times
Support is crucial to getting through challenging times, and not being able to express how we are doing can lead to further mental health problems. Reaching out for help is hard, and not everyone feels capable or ready to do that when they need help. If we are not really listening when we ask people how they are doing, we are perpetuating a dangerous cycle.
Your First Therapy Session
Therapy is a common recommendation when someone discusses stress, anxiety, depression, or relationship issues. As therapists, we love to see therapy being recognized as a valid treatment option, as well as normalized to reduce stigma. We love hearing people talk about their experiences in therapy on social media and in casual conversation. But what about those of us who have never been to therapy before? What is it like? How do we know it’s a good fit? Is every session like the first session? What is going to happen?
Introvert or Extrovert?
An introvert is someone who gets energy from alone time, while an extrovert is someone who gets energy from being around other people. While some introverts are shy and some extroverts are outgoing, some can be introverted and outgoing, or extroverted and shy. Someone who is extroverted will feel energized after social encounters, and more drained from alone time. An introvert may feel drained after a social encounter and need a few hours by themselves. An ambivert is a term used to describe someone who experiences both things- energy from being alone, and energy from being with others- depending on the scenario.
Is It Time to Break Up With Your Therapist?
Therapy is a relationship. In order to be effective, you need to feel connected to your therapist. So what happens when you no longer feel like your needs are getting met? Do you stop coming in? No show? Something many people don’t realize is that therapists do want you to be honest with them, especially if the relationship isn’t working.
Distraction - An Excellent Coping Skill
Sometimes, what we need a break from is our own thoughts or feelings. When our emotions feel overwhelming, they can also be harmful to our self-esteem, or, in more severe cases, to our physical or emotional safety. Positive distraction has a place in mental health, and, when used with other ways of coping, can be very healthy.
Anxiety - 5 Lesser Known Ways It Might be Affecting You
Anxiousness is part of the normal and healthy range of human emotion, and having a fear response is designed to keep us safe. It becomes a problem when it starts to affect your daily life, such as your health, relationships, work, or school.
Adults, Social Media, and Mental Health
While social media is not all good or all bad, fostering genuine connection and knowing the potentially adverse effects of using it can help to limit the damage that it can do.
Misophonia: When Sounds Are Too Much
Chances are, a lot of people that you know are struggling with Misophonia. Once you start talking about it, you may notice more people coming forward to say they struggle with it as well. While asking someone to tolerate a minor annoyance is reasonable, this is more than that. Have patience with yourself, and talk about it!
Is Therapy Right For You?
Anyone can benefit from therapy if they want to work on themselves. Therapy allows for a safe space to talk about feelings and experiences, and learn new ways to cope with stressful things in life. Recently, going to therapy seems to be something everyone is doing. In spite of this, there is still a stigma associated with getting any kind of treatment for mental health. So how do you know if therapy is the right move for you?
Tips to Manage a Mental Health Crisis
If you are feeling as though you are in crisis, either you are concerned that you are having thoughts of harming or killing yourself, or are feeling out of control emotionally, the most important thing you can do is to tell someone. This can be done over the phone or in person. If you don’t have a support person you can contact, call a crisis line. Having a therapist can help to develop long term ways of coping so that crises happen less frequently.
Navigating the Post-Holiday Blues
But what happens in January and February when the holidays are over? When we take down the decorations, have unwrapped all the gifts, and are faced with a normal work week and a fridge full of leftovers. How can you navigate the disappointment and comedown that often happens after a bustling holiday season, looked forward to all year long?
Battling Loneliness
Most people experience loneliness at some point in their lives. Loneliness can feel crippling, but its important to remember that others are seeking connection as well. Fear of rejection can contribute to loneliness and inhibit seeking of new relationships. Making friends in adulthood is hard.
The Sunday Scaries
Sunday evening can feel like time where you are just waiting for that inevitable moment when the weekend is over, but Sundays also have potential to be relaxing and fun.
Ghosting
Getting ghosted doesn’t usually feel good, and it can be hard to get closure without having an idea of what happened or why.
6 Things Your Therapist Wishes You Knew
To help improve your therapy experience, we have come up with a list of some things that our therapists would like you to know about the therapy process at Champaign Counseling.
You’ve Heard of Fight or Flight… But What About Freeze?
Fight, Flight, and Freeze are the three responses that are biological instincts to protect us when our lives are in danger. However, what we find sometimes is that we experience fight, flight, or freeze even when there is not a threat to our lives.
So You Want Mental Health Treatment
Mental health treatment is different for everyone, and people often feel overwhelmed trying to figure out where to begin. Outpatient therapy is a great place to start, and you and your therapist can work together to figure out if that is the right course, or if you need a higher level of care.
8 Questions to Ask Your Therapist
Therapists expect clients to have questions about therapy when they come to a session, especially if this is their first time in therapy.
Trauma and Need
When someone has experienced a traumatic event, depending on what the event was and what else was going on at the time, the person might completely change some of the ways that they interact with the world.