Can seeing a therapist really help me?
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate” – Carl Jung
When we stand back and observe the patterns of our own life, behaviour, and relationships, the driving forces may not be immediately clear. This famous quote refers to the human tendency to go through life repeating the same old patterns, until we can identify and let go of ways of being that no longer serve us.
Some people may rely on and expect of themselves to endure life’s struggles on their own. They may struggle to ask for help, question if their issues are big enough to warrant therapy, pressure themselves to figure it out alone, or simply avoid facing within for fear of what will be unearthed.
While this may work for some, for many of us, it is not until being guided by a trained therapist, that we can develop deeper insights about ourselves and the drivers of our anxiety and depression, to bring about positive change.
A therapist’s role is to help you discover how unconscious processes - based on your past history – can manifest in your present behaviour. Take for instance this following example:
A young woman pathologically people pleases and strives for the approval of others, because her attachment figures failed to accept her. In her present life, her excessive people pleasing may perpetuate her suffering, through self-sacrifice and unwittingly inviting people to treat her as lesser than. Prior to therapy, she may be not be fully conscious of these processes; instead, she may go through life as though she is truly unworthy.
Seeing a therapist, may help her to make these links, drop the need for external validation, and allow for her to find her inner worth. This is one of many examples.
Once these processes are brought into your awareness, it will allow you to take control of your life and choosewhether you need to keep engaging in behaviours that no longer serve you. As these processes may have been part of your life for years, mixed feelings and resistance to letting them go will be expected; your therapist will help you navigate through these challenges.
Therapy can help you to:
Identify and connect with your emotions
Identify and challenge barriers to your growth and healing
Develop deeper insights about yourself for improved self-awareness
Identify unhelpful core beliefs that may be unconsciously driving your decisions
Attend to yourself and regulate your anxiety levels
Make unconscious processes conscious, so you can take charge of your life and break unhealthy patterns
Understand how your attachment history may shape your present-life relationships
Explore previously avoided or forbidden emotions, leaving you feeling lighter
Understand how the defence mechanisms you may have built up to protect you earlier in life, may no longer be needed
Facilitate and develop healthier alternative strategies
Improve your relationship with yourself and others through being present and connected
Therapy is a collaborative, trusting, and healing process between therapist and client. It is particularly indicated for anyone suffering an emotional problem, that may come with issues such as anxiety and depression.
Your therapist will work collaboratively with you, with the aim to break these cycles for your emotional freedom, growth, and connectedness.
