Friday, April 17, 2015

Finding The Best Therapist For You

By Joanna Walsh


The right therapist for another patient may not be the right one for you. There are so many factors to take into consideration. Usually it is apparent if a therapist is someone you can feel comfortable working with during the first session. For the individual looking for a therapist beverly ma has listings of excellent practitioners.

Each counselor has a certain type of personality. It should be easy to discuss anything, general or intimate, with this person. Such things may be the main presenting problem or will enter into the conversation at some point.

You should ask about education, experience and to see credentials if you wish. Ask how long it may take to reach the first of your goals. One of the therapists in Topsfield, MA will be able to approximate the time.

The longest type of counseling is psychoanalysis. It can take years of exploring and deciphering childhood memories. For that reason, few people choose it for themselves. It is relatively expensive and time-consuming.

It is possible to overcome unwanted dysfunctional habits in a faster way. For example, the process of Cognitive Behavioral therapy is comparatively quick. The dysfunctional behavior is approached immediately. If it is interfering with the normal activities of daily living, the plan to get over it is started.

All conversation between the patient and the counselor is confidential. That means that it cannot be discussed with a third party except under emergency circumstances. A professional distance must be maintained and it is the responsibility of the counselor to see that it does. There should be no physical contact of an intimate nature.

Usually referred to as CBT, the cognitive behavioral therapy has time limits and specific goals to be met. Right from the start, the client is working towards the goal or goals. Homework is assigned. If the problem is one of social anxiety, for example, the goal might entail engaging in conversations with others right away.

Some kinds of therapeutic methods focus on the underlying cause of a fear. They then relate it to the current fear and the intent is to resolve it through understanding. In CBT the fear is approached with the intent of getting over it, regardless of why the client is fearful.

Someone afraid of the dark may be asked to first keep night lights on as he imagines being in the dark by closing his eyes. He may gradually think about what might be hidden in the dark. Then he will gradually use dimmer and dimmer night lights.

In traditional talk therapy, he would be exploring what may have scared him the first time. He may be asked to think of childhood fears from the adult perspective. As the person in psychotherapy is talking about being in the dark, the CBT patient may be taking nightly walks with a trusted friend to overcome the fear.

The general concensus is that CBT is a rapid way of overcoming a fear. Psychotherapy is often called talk therapy. It is not, however, as extensive as psychoanalysis in which the discussion might last for years.




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