A psychotherapist is someone who helps you in the treatment of many psychological disorders and mental illness distress. These professionals will usually help you through verbal and psychological techniques. Psychotherapists provide different types of therapy, such as individual, group, couples, and family.
Psychotherapists treat a variety of conditions, including:
- Addiction
- Anxiety disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Eating disorder
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Depression
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Substance use disorder
Not to mention that these mental health professionals can help you deal with chronic pain, relationship issues, grief, insomnia, low self-esteem, and stress.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
CBT is a type of therapy, also known as talk therapy, helps the patient understand his or her thoughts and feelings that lead to certain behaviors. Talk therapy is often used to treat phobias, addiction, depression, and anxiety. This type of therapy identifies negative thoughts, challenges them, and replaces them with helpful and objective ones.
There are also different types of CBT that can help more specifically. Dialectical behavior therapy deals with negative thoughts and brings in strategies like emotional regulation and mindfulness. Multimodal therapy ensures psychological issues should be treated using seven modalities: behavior, affect, sensation, imagery, cognition, interpersonal factors, and biological. Lastly, rational emotive behavior therapy identifies irrational beliefs, challenges them, teaches the patient to recognize them and change the negative thoughts.
When Should I Seek Treatment?
Choosing when to seek treatment depends on how you are feeling. It is important to remember that it is never too early to seek treatment since each person has their own limits. When deciding whether you should seek help, it is important to take into consideration two factors: distress and impairment. This is all about how you are feeling and how much your mentality is affecting your daily life.
For instance, if your anxiety is leading to a point where you cannot shower or go to work, it is important that you seek help. Additionally, if you cannot make life choices because of fear or if can’t do things that you want to do, you should seek help. However, if you currently do not feel like you need treatment right away because you do not feel like your disorder or negative thoughts are taking over your life, try to take care of yourself, which, in turn, will help your mentality. Simple things like a nice bath, a book, your favorite food, good sleep, or a nice walk can help you feel a bit better.Overall, mental health is extremely important for you to live a healthy and happy life. Therefore, it is often helpful to have someone to talk to, whether it is a therapist or a friend who you trust. Remember that psychotherapists can help you with mental disorders and any other issues that are leading to you having a negative mindset. These professionals can use talk therapy to help you get those negative thoughts and beliefs out of the way to get you into a healthier mindset.